Who We Are

Gift of Life’s mission is to cure blood cancer through cellular therapy.

At Gift of Life we believe every person battling blood cancer deserves a second chance at life — and we are determined to make it happen. We are singularly passionate about engaging the public to help us get everyone involved in curing blood cancer, whether as a donor, a volunteer or a financial supporter. It all begins with one remarkable person, one life-changing swab and one huge win — finding a match and a cure.

About Blood Cancer

Blood cancer is an umbrella term for cancers that affect the blood, bone marrow and lymphatic system. In most blood cancers, normal blood cell development is interrupted by uncontrolled growth of abnormal blood cells. The abnormal blood cells can prevent blood from fighting off infection or preventing uncontrolled bleeding.

Unfortunately, blood cancer can strike any one of us at any time. Approximately every three minutes, a child or adult in the United States is diagnosed with a type of blood cancer. An estimated 186,400 people will be diagnosed with leukemia and lymphoma in 2021.

There are three main types of blood cancers: Leukemia, cancer that is found in your blood and bone marrow; Lymphoma, blood cancer that affects the lymphatic system; and Myeloma, blood cancer that specifically targets your plasma cells.

For many, there is hope of a cure through a bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplant. Today, transplantation, of healthy stem cells donated by related and unrelated volunteers, offers hope to many patients suffering from these sometimes deadly diseases.

Advances in transplantation have made this procedure a reality for thousands who are alive today because a stranger gave them the Gift of Life!

Conditions that can be treated by transplantation include:

Bone marrow diseases: Amegakaryocytosis/congenital thrombocytopenia, Fanconi anemia, Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), Pure red cell aplasia, Severe aplastic anemia
Familial erythrophagocythic lymphohistiocytosis and other histiocytic disorders
Hemoglobinopathies: Beta Thalassemia Major and Sickle Cell Disease
Inherited Immune System Disorders: Severe combined immunodeficiency and Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome
Inherited Metabolic Disorders: Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), Hurler Syndrome (MPS-IH), Krabbe Disease (GLD), and Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD)
Leukemias and lymphomas: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML), Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML), Hodgkin’s (HL) and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL), and Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia.
Myelodysplastic syndromes including myeloproliferative disorders
Multiple myeloma and plasma cell disorders
Some other cancers and malignant diseases

Did You Know...

A patient is diagnosed with blood cancer every three minutes

A lifetime probability of receiving a stem cell transplant is one in 200

Gift of Life is a national, public, not-for-profit registry facilitating transplants for patients in the United States and abroad

Tissue type is inherited, like eye or hair color – The best chance of finding a genetic match lies with those of similar race and ethnicity

Joining the registry involves a simple cheek swab

Gift of Life is an associate donor registry of the National Marrow Donor Program / Be The Match

Transplant physicians request donors age 18-35 more than 90 percent of the time for their patients

Gift of Life is accredited by the World Marrow Donor Association and is a member of the global registry, Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide

90 percent of volunteers donate blood stem cells – 10 percent donate marrow (primarily for pediatric patients)