How likely is it that I will be called up to donate?
We know that for DKMS registered donors in the UK, there is a 1 in 800 chance that you will be matched with a transplant patient and donate your stem cells.
Finding a matching donor for a patient is rare, and the chances for a match will vary from individual to individual, depending upon factors such as:
Matches are determined by HLA typing (tissue typing) and there are thousands of characteristics in millions of combinations, so it’s a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. That’s why we need to register as many potential blood stem cell donors as possible.
