2. What are stem cells?
Stem Cells continuously create and renew our blood, bone marrow and immune system. They are found in large quantities in the umbilical cord blood of your child. After birth, these cells end up in the bone marrow, where they continuously replenish and produce:
- Red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the system
- White blood cells, which are the defense of our body against disease
- Platelets that help blood to clot after a wound and
- All the other cells, which constitute our blood and our immune system
Storage of these cells is important because they constitute a unique source of compatible graft. They can be used, if the need arises in the future, for the treatment of a number of diseases, thus protecting the health of your child and family.
3. How are stem cells used?
Currently, stem cells are primarily used in transplant medicine to regenerate a patient's blood and immune system after they have been treated with chemotherapy and/or radiation to destroy cancer cells.
At the same time the chemotherapy and radiation destroys the cancer cells in a patient, they also destroy stem cells. Therefore, an infusion of stem cells or a stem cell transplant is performed after the chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment. The stem cells then migrate to the patient's bone marrow where they multiply and regenerate all of the cells to create a new blood and immune system for the patient.
The promise of using stem cells for medical treatments has been the focus of research projects that are showing encouraging result
- Cord blood stem cells have been "triggered" to differentiate into neural cells, which could lead to treatments for diseases such as diabetes, heart and liver disease, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, and stroke.
- They have also proven their ability to turn into blood vessel cells, which could some day benefit treatments for heart disease, allowing patients to essentially "grow their own bypass."
4. Why are doctors turning to cord blood instead of bone marrow?
a. Easier to match - Higher Survival
Bone marrow is difficult to match between the donor and recipient because a "perfect match" is usually required. Cord blood immune cells, however, are less mature than in bone marrow and can be successfully used even when there is only a partial match. This means there is more opportunity for transplants between family members when cord blood is stored. Some studies have shown that overall survival rates for related transplants are more than double that of transplants from unrelated donors.
b. Immediate availability
Banking cord blood ensures that these stem cells can be immediately available if they are needed for treatment. Early treatment of many illnesses can minimize disease progression.
c. Less incidences of Graft vs. Host Disease
Overall, patients who receive cord blood transplants from a relative experience significantly less Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD), a transplant rejection that is the leading cause of death in stem cell transplant patients.
5. What is proposed in terms of cord blood transplants in the future?
To date, umbilical cord blood has been used in more than 6,000 transplants by children and adults. In many cases, the cord blood was used by the baby's sibling. Other transplants have occurred for the newborn himself, the newborn's mother, father, and the newborn's cousin.
In the past two years alone, research has demonstrated that cord blood stem cells can differentiate into other types of cells in the body. The regenerative qualities of stem cells have been brought to the forefront in the field of cellular repair. Stem cells have been labelled an important biological resource and researchers are conducting more and more studies to unlock the potential of umbilical cord blood stem cells in future applications for diseases like diabetes, heart and liver disease, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, and stroke.
6. What is HLA matching?
Matching refers to several proteins called Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) that appear on the surface of white blood cells and some tissues in the body. These HLA points, or loci, determine tissue compatibility between a patient and a donor. Although a perfect match would be best, studies have shown that cord blood transplants are successful, even when only three of six loci match. With cord blood, the immune cells are less mature than those in bone marrow, and therefore siblings are more likely to be able to use each other's cord blood, compared to bone marrow.
7. Why do families choose to collect and store their baby's cord blood
At an increasing rate, expectant parents are storing cord blood for their families, not only as a potential life-saving resource for current uses of stem cells, but also for their future potential. Parents bank for the security in knowing the health benefits stem cells may someday offer their children, themselves, or other family members.
Recent clinical studies support the unique suitability of cord blood stem cells for a number of developing technologies. Respected medical journals explore the potential use of cord blood stem cells in the emerging fields of gene therapy and cellular repair. When you bank your baby's cord blood stem cells, you are saving what may be a key component to potential future medical treatments and cures.
At birth, you have only a short period to collect these cells. They give you options for treatments of diseases of today and in the future.
9. Are the stem cells ever a match for other family members?
A child's own cord blood is always a perfect match. Siblings also have a good chance of a match - generally a one-in-four chance.
Cord Blood Stem Cells are "immature cells" and therefore less recognisable by the recipient's body, as a foreign part, in case they are transplanted. Because of this, they can be transplanted with a lesser degree of HLA matching than bone marrow. This increases the possibility to be used in the future by other family members.
