HLA Donor Matching

• Every person has six groups of Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) - a perfect donor match would be a 6/6 HLA match.

• There are three important groups of HLA antigens in a cord blood transplant (A, B, DR).  Each group has two antigens, one inherited from the father and one from the mother, making a total of six antigens that determine a donor/recipient match.

• Antigens are a kind of protein, located on the outer surface of most cells in the body, that help the immune system to identify foreign bacteria and viruses.

• Leukocytes are the cells where the antigens are located.

• With a bone marrow transplant, ideally you are looking for a 6/6 or 5/6 HLA match, with a cord blood transplant, a 4/6 match is sufficient because the immune system cells contained in cord blood are less mature and haven't yet learned to attack foreign substances.

• The higher the number of matching Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA), the greater the chance that the patient's body will accept the donor's stem cells.
  

 For our beautiful baby, they have already found a wonderful 5/6 cord blood match, thanks to the availability of stored umbilical cords today!!  Thank you!!  We couldn't be more thrilled. One less thing to worry about.  Sweet cells of life!  Thanks for donating your healthy newborn's umbilical cord!  By doing so you have just saved our baby's life!

 Click on the Butterfly to hear about the Successes of Newborn Transplants...