WHAT IS

CORD BLOOD?

Cord blood is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta after a baby is delivered. In the past, cord blood was traditionally discarded as medical waste. However, following years of research, medical scientists have now applied the stem cells found in cord blood to successfully treat over 80 diseases!

Thus far, cord blood stem cells have been successfully used to treat numerous diseases, including cancers (such as leukemia, lymphomas, myelomas), blood disorders (such as thalassemias, sickle cell anemia, Fanconi’s anemia), and immune deficiency diseases. Please refer to all treatable diseases. Recently, cord blood stem cells have been used in clinical trials to repair damaged tissues and organs (regenerative medicine), and the outcomes have been promising.

1. CORD BLOOD IS RICH IN HEMATOPOIETIC(BLOOD-FORMING) STEM CELLS

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.

2. 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 (Matsumoto T and Mugishima H, Int J Stem Cells, 83-89 Nov 2(2) 2009).

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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. (A.Malgieri, E. Kantzari, M. Patrizi and S. Gambaradella, IJCEM, 248-269, 2010)

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Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC)
The use of human cord-blood-derived EPCs is used for the induction of angiogenesis in critically ischemic diseases.

3. IT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY USED TO TREAT VARIOUS 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 forty thousand patients worldwide.

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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).

4. 100% MATCH WITH YOUR BABY

The number of the autologous therapy cases (treatment using the baby’s own cord blood stem cells) has raised exponentially, compared with the growth in the number of treatments using cord blood stem cells donated by others. (Verter F and Nietfeld J. Cytotherapy Vol.12 Supplement 1, 2010 (abstract)).

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Since there is a chance that a child may be a close match with a sibling, it is more beneficial to save cord blood stem cells from each child to increase the probability of matching a family member who may develop a disease requiring stem cell therapy. Moreover, the additional cord blood units can be used for patients whose treatments may require two cord blood units.

5. AUTOLOGOUS TRANSPLANTATION OF CORD BLOOD

The rising rate of autologous therapy (treatment with the donor’s own cord blood stem cells) exceeds exponential growth, compared with linear growth in the number of allogeneic cord blood transplants being performed (NMDP) (treatment with cord blood stem cells donated by others) (Verter F and Nietfeld J. Cytotherapy Vol.12 Supplement 1, 2010 (abstract)).

6. ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY

Cord blood can only be collected at birth but the life saving potential of these valuable cells can last a life-time.