The Matchis Foundation makes sure those patients with leukaemia and other serious blood disorders who need a stem cell transplant as quickly as possible, get the most suitable donor.

These transplants are vital for the patient to survive. If no suitable donor can be found, there is a great chance that they will die.

Finding the right stem cell donor

For a stem cell transplant to be successful, it is essential that the donor’s stem cells match the patient’s stem cells. That is why doctors first turn to the patient’s family. If no suitable stem cell donor is found within the family (and that is the case for 70% of all patients), Matchis starts a global search for a suitable, unrelated donor – someone who is prepared to donate stem cells to a patient that they don’t even know.

Finding donors

For these patients it is therefore of vital importance that there is a database with as many potential donors as possible in order to increase their chance of finding a suitable match. Matchis finds stem cell donors in the Netherlands.  If one of their stem cell donors is a possible match for a patient anywhere in the world, then Matchis will deal with the request and will make sure that the donor’s interests are protected as much as possible.

Global cooperation

Matchis has been working with organisations all over the world since 1988 to make sure that there are stem cells available for patients with illnesses such as leukaemia. It soon became very clear that global cooperation increased the chances of finding a donor for a patient, immensely.