Automated blood collection (sometimes called apheresis, or ABC) is a special kind of blood donation. Instead of giving one pint of whole blood (as in a regular donation), an ABC donor gives only those components of the blood needed for patients that day.

Apheresis donations help people undergoing cancer therapy and leukemia patients who do not have enough platelets due to either their disease or their cancer treatment, which can damage bone marrow and result in hemorrhage.

Transfusions of platelets from apheresis donations can help keep these patients alive while allowing enough time for their therapy to work.

Treatments Enabled by Apheresis

The availability of an onsite apheresis program allows cancer patients access to a variety of cutting edge treatments, including:

• Photopheresis
  (e.g., for graft versus host disease and lymphoma)
  
  
• Stem Cell Transplant
  (e.g., for leukemia, multiple myeloma, lymphoma, and breast cancers)
  
  
• Therapeutic Plasma Exchange (TPE)
  (e.g., for the side effects of cancers such as small cell lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, thyoma and Hodgkin’s disease) 
  
  
• Red Cell Exchange
  (e.g., for sickle cell disease or to improve the compatability of a cancer patient with a marrow or stem cell donor )
  
  
• White Blood Cell / Platelet Depletion
  (e.g., for leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloproliferative disorders)

Stanford Expertise

The Stanford Blood Center is a recognized leader in apheresis, donor matching, and marrow transplants.

Staff and physicians have significant expertise in all aspects of apheresis and related cancer treatments, and are also actively researching new treatments for cancer.