www.womanthismonth.com 47 May 2013 | After a baby is born, cord blood is left in the umbilical cord and placenta. It is fairly easy to collect with no threat to the mother or baby. It contains haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). These are rare cells that normally originate in the bone marrow. They can generate every type of cell in the blood: red cells, white cells and platelets. They are accountable for maintaining blood production throughout our lives and have been used for many years in bone marrow transplants to treat blood diseases. The good Cord blood is used to treat children with cancerous blood disorders, such as leukaemia or genetic blood diseases like fanconi anaemia. It is transplanted into the patient, where the HSCs can make new, healthy blood cells to substitute those impaired by the patient’s disease, or by a medical treatment such as chemotherapy for cancer. In this way, cord blood bids a beneficial alternative to bone marrow transplants for some patients. It is easier to collect than bone marrow and can be stored frozen until it is needed. It also seems to be less likely than bone marrow to cause immune rejection or complications such as graft versus host disease. This means that cord blood does not need to be as perfectly matched to the patient as bone marrow. However, cord blood transplants also have precincts. Treatment of adults has so far proven to be very challenging, despite some successes. It can also only be used to treat blood diseases. The bad A major limitation of the transplantation is that the blood obtained from a single umbilical cord does not contain as many cells as a bone marrow donation. Scientists believe this is the main reason that treating adult patients with cord blood is so difficult. A transplant containing too few HSCs may fail or could lead to slow formation of new blood in the body in the early days after transplantation. This serious complication has been partially overcome by transplanting blood from two umbilical cords into larger children and adults. Some researchers have also tried to increase the total number of HSCs obtained from each umbilical cord by collecting additional blood from the placenta. Neither solution is entirely satisfactory. When parents donate to a public bank, they are supporting patients around the world who are searching for an unrelated allogeneic donor. When parents save cord blood in a family bank, they are reserving the options that the baby can use its own stem cells for an autologous treatment or an immediate relative (sibling or parents) can use the stem cells for an allogeneic treatment. For feedback, comments or questions contact Dr Jinan Darwish via email at: [email protected] l Banking umbilical cord blood is a gift that could save your child’s life. l If your child becomes ill and requires a stem cell transplant, his or her own banked cord blood provides the paramount match, with no risk of rejection. l If a related family member becomes ill and requires a stem cell transplant, a related donor is more likely to be a match. l Unlike harvesting bone marrow, harvesting umbilical cord blood is not painful. l Banked umbilical cord blood has been used in the treatment of over 75 life-threatening diseases, including a wide range of cancers, genetic diseases, immune system deficiencies and blood disorders. l Stem cell transplants are also being used to treat conditions such as Type 1 diabetes and cerebral palsy. l International stem cell registries are predominately Caucasian, meaning non- Caucasians have more difficulty finding a match. Why you should bank cord blood: Column Banking on Your Child’s Health Umbilical cord blood was once discarded as waste material but is now known to be a valuable source of blood stem cells.
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