Cord Banks
Umbilical Cord Blood Banking
Little was it known that cord blood would hold the key to numerous human diseases
when the first report on stem/progenitor cells was released in 1974. Since that time,
from the first cord blood transplant performed in 1988 on a six year old boy in Paris, France,
to the United States government passing legislation in 2005 ensuring that all expecting families
are provided fair and balanced information on cord blood banking; the science has been leaping
forward and new breakthroughs are made every day.
Once a child is born, the umbilical cord is often considered to be waste material and just thrown
away along with the placenta. However, the apparent present state surrounding umbilical cord
blood has made the umbilical cord and placenta much more valuable. It is now known that blood
extracted from the umbilical cord is a rich source of stem cells.
Collecting and storing the blood is not complex. A doctor or midwife extracts the blood with a
syringe after a baby's umbilical cord is cut. Three to four ounces of placental blood is drawn
from the umbilical cord. In preparation for freezing and preserving the blood, the content of the
syringe is deposited in a bag or vial for the parents--or a medical courier--to ship off to a cord-blood
company's storage site. Once the blood is stored, the potential for future treatments becomes a
reality.
Studies propose that stem cells from cord blood offer some significant advantages over those retrieved
from bone marrow as well. Readily obtained from the placenta at the time of delivery, stem cells from
cord blood are much easier to get. Posing a small risk to the donor, gathering stem cells from bone
marrow requires an invasive procedure, usually under general anesthesia, that can cause
post-operative pain.
Cord blood stem cell may benefit a broader range of recipients as well. The cells can be stored and
transplanted back into the donor or to another member of the donor's family. It is even possible
for an unrelated recipient to receive the cells. This differs from bone marrow transplantation
because there must be nearly a perfect match of certain tissue proteins between the recipient
and donor, otherwise the bone marrow transplant will fail. Even when there are partial
tissue mismatches, stem cells derived from cord blood are more likely to engraft.
The use of cord blood may make blood stem cell transplants available more quickly for
people who need them. About 30,000 individuals each year are diagnosed with conditions
that could be treated with a bone marrow transplant. A suitable tissue match from a relative
is found in approximately 25 percent of these individuals. The process of locating a suitable donor
can take months, and only 50 percent of patients locate a donor within 4 months. It often is more
difficult to find a bone marrow match for members of non-white ethnic and racial groups; transplants
from cord blood may make timely treatment accessible for more of these individuals.
Many people do not have time to search for months and thus banked stem cells from cord blood
provide the most logical answer. Since they are more readily available, a source of cord blood stem
cells can be critical for patients with severe cases of leukemia, anemia, or immune deficiency who
would otherwise die before a match could be found.
Cord blood is also less likely to contain certain infectious agents, like some viruses, that can pose
a risk to transplant recipients.
In addition, some studies suggest that cord blood may have a greater ability to generate new blood
cells than bone marrow. Ounce for ounce, there are nearly 10 times as many blood-producing cells
in cord blood. This fact suggests that a smaller number of cord blood cells are needed for a
successful transplantation.
Overall, the potential for stem cell treatment using cord blood is virtually limitless. Treatments for
countless orthopedic disorders such as osteoporosis and even fractures are being developed.
Heart disease, numerous plastic surgery cases, brain injury, dental treatments, arthritis, cancer,
paralysis, and diabetes are some of the many other conditions that future medical treatments are
being created for. The tantalizing images of growing new teeth to replace those that are lost to making
paralyzed individuals walk again is all within reach. But the storage of cord blood must come first so
that the raw material for these certain future treatments is available.
Families who want to donate their baby's cord blood to a public bank for use by others should be
fully informed of their responsibilities and other implications of such donations.
A public cord blood bank is much like a standard blood bank. Donating to a public bank is free,
but the public bank will become the owner of your cord blood. But do not be alarmed, donating to
a public bank will get you on a registry so you can withdraw cord blood if need be.
Donating to a private
bank is much like storing something in a vault. You will preserve ownership and the destiny of your
cord blood, but collection and storage fees will cost from $1000 to $2000. Public cord blood banks are
funded by medical insurance and blood sales. Public banks are typically non-profit while private banks
are for-profit businesses.
Those using private banks will be assured their cord blood is instantly obtainable should the
need arise. The cord blood which is used will be their baby's blood. Public banks cannot guarantee
the availability of a match for a baby's cord blood, though this is usually not a problem. In almost all
cases, blood received from a public bank will be from a different donor.
Doctors may charge fees for collecting cord blood. These fees are typically not covered by insurance.
However, it is very common for doctors to waive collection fees if the cord blood is donated to a
public bank.
Expectant parents can make arrangements before the birth of their child to have their baby's cord
blood collected immediately after birth (within 15 minutes of delivery) and stored by a commercial
blood bank for their own use. Or they can donate it to a public bank to be available to any appropriately
matched individual needing a transplant. If parents use a commercial bank, the initial cost ranges from
$250 to $1,500, plus an annual storage fee of $50 to $100. Some health insurance companies are
beginning to cover these costs.
Although public banks pay for processing the cord blood sample, they require completion of a
lengthy parental health/disease questionnaire. Required testing for diseases such as hepatitis and
HIV can be costly for parents. In addition, expectant parents must make arrangements with these
banks at least 90 days before the anticipated delivery date.
Overall, cord blood storage is an option available to nearly every expecting family in the world.
And in
some cases, it may be the most important and beneficial form of insurance a family can have. With
recent advances and even more on the way, stem cells derived from cord blood will provide the
treatments for many illnesses now and in the future.
Advantages of transplanting with cord blood
(instead of bone marrow or stem cells from peripheral blood):
Harvesting umbilical cord blood poses no risk to mother or child, whereas a bone marrow
donor must undergo anesthesia and is exposed to the risk of infection.
Umbilical cord blood can be stored in cryogenic freezers, ready for use as soon as it is
needed, whereas the process of contacting and testing donors listed in a registry takes weeks to
months.
Because the stem cells in cord blood are more primitive than those in bone marrow or
peripheral blood, they carry much lower incidence of graft versus host disease (GVHD). Thus, cord
blood transplants do not require a "perfect match" between the donor and the patient.
The disadvantages of transplanting with cord blood:
Because the stem cells in cord blood are more primitive than those in bone marrow or
peripheral blood, the engraftment process takes longer with cord blood, leaving the patient vulnerable
to a fatal infection for a longer period of time.
A typical cord blood harvest only contains enough stem cells to transplant a large child or
small adult (weighing approx. 100 pounds). Researchers are exploring methods of transplanting
adults with cord blood, either by growing the cells in a lab prior to transplant, or by transplanting more
than one cord blood unit at a time.
Here list of cord banks:
1.Alpha Cord Inc.
AlphaCord / CA: Famiily Cord Blood Services (formerly California Cryobank)
processes all cord blood units the same way. AlphaCord customers share freezer
space with direct customers of CalCryo. Courier transport is available for an extra fee.
Payment plans available. Refund all but $199 within 60 days of birth; no questions asked.
AlphaCord / IL:
AlphaCord / IN: The Genesis Bank processes all cord blood units the same way.
AlphaCord / NJ: Community Blood Services processes all cord blood units the same way.
Every marketing outlet which stores at Community Blood Services has a separate freezer.
The transplant quota is from the public bank at Community Blood Services. Courier transport is
available for an extra fee. Payment plans available. Refund all but $199 within 60 days of birth;
no questions asked.
2.CellMed Biotech
Dr. Steven G. Lutz is the chairman and CEO of CellMed, which has offices in Conover, NC.
Community Blood Services laboratory in Paramus, NJ, handles all cord blood units the same way, except for CorCell clients. Their processing is a two-step method: first a sedimentation stage with the chemical Hespan; then a gentle spin cycle for further cell separation. The final red cell hematocrit is only about 2%.
Every bank which stores at Community Blood Services has a separate freezer.
The transplant quota is from the public bank at Community Blood Services.
CellMed was profiled 2 June 2005 in the Hickory Daily Record, of Hickory, North Carolina.
Shipping by courier costs $150 extra.
Processing, courier shipping, and first year storage brings total fee to $1765.
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