Saving Lives

Kids with cancer who have benefitted from Fight Cancer Foundation's life-saving work

Fight Cancer Foundation was formed as the Bone Marrow Donor Institute in 1989 by a small group of families devastated by the effects of leukaemia with the aim of establishing a donor registry to give hope and save lives.

Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry

In 1990, Fight Cancer Foundation (as the Bone Marrow Donor Institute) was instrumental in the establishment of the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry in response to a direct community need. Today over 200,000 donors are registered and the internationally-linked registry provides access to more than 28 million registered marrow or cord blood donors worldwide.

The Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry provides a second chance at life for the 70% of Australian and international patients unable to find a suitable bone marrow donor match from a relative and who rely on bone marrow donor registries like the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry.

For more information please visit the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry website.

BMDI Cord Blood Bank

The BMDI Cord Blood Bank was established by Fight Cancer Foundation in 1996 and operates as a partnership between Fight Cancer Foundation, the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.

Based at the Royal Children’s Hospital, the BMDI Cord Blood Bank is one of three public cord blood banks in Australia, which together form the AusCord network of public cord blood banks, with the other banks in Sydney and Brisbane and access to more than 650,000 cord blood units around the world.

Working closely with the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry, the banks source and provide cord blood for patients needing a stem cell transplant for treatment of leukaemia and other life-threatening illnesses. Many people in Australia and around the world have benefitted from the life-saving gift that is the donation of cord blood following the birth of a child.

For further information, download the BMDI Cord Blood Bank brochure, or visit the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry website.