Saving cord blood is an important option for families because:
Bone marrow transplantation is a definitive or adjuvant therapy for patients with otherwise life-threatening diseases; however, finding a suitable bone marrow donor in a timely manner when a patient requires a transplant can be extremely difficult. Cord blood has the same types of stem cells as those found in bone marrow. The cells in cord blood can therefore be used as an alternative to bone marrow stem cells to save the lives of patients.
It contains valuable, therapeutic stem cells:
- Unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSC)
The discovery of unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSC), a non-hematopoietic stem cell population, brought cord blood (CB) to the forefront of regenerative medicine, a new field that uses cord blood to repair damaged tissues and organs.
- Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC)
Mesenchymal stem cells are multipotent stem cells that can differentiate into a variety of cell types, such as osteoblasts (bone cells), chondrocytes (cartilage cells) and adipocytes (fat cells) and more.
- Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC)
The use of human cord-blood-derived EPCs is quite attractive for induction of angiogenesis in critically ischemic diseases.
It has been successfully used to treat many types of life-threatening diseases
Stem cells have been used to treat many types of malignant and non-malignant life-threatening diseases. Cord blood stem cells have saved the lives of over twenty thousand patients worldwide.
It has been recommended that transplanting cord blood stem cells with a perfect HLA match should be the first choice over bone marrow to treat malignant diseases (Smith A. and Wagner J. BJH147, 246–261, 2009).
It has been used in clinical trials to repair damaged tissues and organs, and the outcomes have been promising.
With advances in research on cord blood and clinical trials, it has shown promising outcomes in repairing damaged tissues and organs for treatment of diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, spinal cord injury, brain injury and more.Autologous transplantation of cord blood could become an important therapy
- It is increasing much faster than allogeneic transplantation
The rising rate of autologous therapy (treatment with the baby’s own cord blood stem cells) exceeds exponential growth, compared with linear growth in the number of allogeneic cord blood transplants being performed (NMDP) since 2006 (treatment with cord blood stem cells donated by others). Verter F and Nietfeld J. Cytotherapy Vol.12 Supplement 1, 2010 (abstract).
- A Duke University physician believes the key to curing or at least lessening the severity of cerebral palsy lies within cord blood. A U.S. Food and Drug Administration-authorized random clinical trial is being led by Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, director of Duke’s Pediatric Bone Marrow and Transplant program and director of the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank to see if cord blood stem cells have the ability to cure or lessen spastic cerebral palsy in children aged 1 to 6 . The work could encourage more parents to bank their children's cord blood at private cord blood banks.
- Cord blood stem cells may restore hearing
Starting in 2012, U.S. researchers are beginning a phase I safety study that involves using children’s umbilical cord blood stem cells to try to restore hearing loss. "This study is exciting because it might offer a non-surgical option for some children with profound hearing loss," Baumgartner said. "More importantly, this is the first treatment with the potential to restore normal hearing." (Dr. James Baumgartner, sponsor of the study and guest research collaborator at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School).
Banking cord blood at birth is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
Cord blood can only be collected at birth. Saving cord blood and never needing to use it is better than not saving it at birth and then needing it in the future. More importantly, cord blood stem cells from a family member are better for transplant to a patient than stem cells from an unrelated donor.
