The­re are dif­fe­rent types of stem cell trans­plan­ta­ti­on. An auto­log­ous stem cell transplantation
invol­ves the extra­c­tion and rein­tro­duc­tion of the patient’s own stem cells. This type of stem
cell trans­plan­ta­ti­on is car­ri­ed out, for ins­tance, if the bone mar­row has been dama­ged by very
strong che­mo­the­ra­py (can­cer drug tre­at­ment) for cer­tain cancers.
Trans­fer­ring blood stem cells from one per­son to ano­ther is cal­led allo­gen­eic stem cell
trans­plan­ta­ti­on. This pro­ce­du­re is under­ta­ken if someone has a dis­or­der of the blood-forming
sys­tem or seve­re immu­n­ode­fi­ci­en­cy. A distinc­tion is also made here bet­ween rela­ted and
unre­la­ted donors. If the pati­ent and donor are rela­ted, the gene­tic mate­ri­al will be more similar
and the pro­ba­bi­li­ty of matching HLA cha­rac­te­ristics will be hig­her. This is espe­ci­al­ly the case
among siblings, whe­re the pro­ba­bi­li­ty of fin­ding a gene­tic twin is 25%. If trans­plan­ta­ti­on of
stem cells from a rela­ti­ve is not pos­si­ble, a sui­ta­ble unre­la­ted donor must be found for the
pati­ent. The pro­cess of matching the HLA cha­rac­te­ristics of poten­ti­al donors with tho­se of
pati­ents is the core task of the ZKRD.