How are blood stem cells collected?

Bone marrow stem cells can be collected in 2 ways

1. Bone Marrow Donation

Bone marrow is collected from the pelvic hipbones using a needle and syringe, under a general anaesthetic. The procedure can take up to 2 hours.

Recovery time varies, but usually you can go home the next day and resume your normal activities after two or three days. Bone marrow re-grows rapidly to replace the donated cells.

The risks of donating stem cells by this method are the same as the risks with any general anaesthetic. The chance of a serious complication in a healthy person is very low but some people experience nausea, bruising and/or local pain and discomfort for several days.

2. Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC) Donation

Normally a very small number of stem cells from the bone marrow is circulating in your bloodstream. To increase the number, a hormone-like substance called G-CSF is injected under the skin daily for 4 days prior to the procedure. The stem cells are then collected by a procedure called leukapheresis.

A needle is inserted into a vein in your arm and your blood passes into a cell separator machine, which selectively removes the stem cells. The rest of your blood is immediately returned to your body.

This procedure, performed at a hospital or blood donor centre, does not require a general anaesthetic and takes about 3-4 hours. After this you may go home, but you may be asked to undergo another collection procedure if insufficient cells numbers were collected.

G-CSF is usually well tolerated, although during the course of the injections you may experience bone pain and some flu-like symptoms, which usually respond to paracetamol.

G-CSF has been used in patients for many years, however the long term affects of short treatments in normal donors however is yet unknown.