| What is "Cord Blood"? |
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| "Cord blood" is the blood
that remains in the umbilical cord and the placenta after the delivery
of a baby. This "afterbirth treasure" was traditionally
discarded until it was discovered that the blood remaining in the
umbilical cord and the placenta is extremely rich in stem cells. Stem
cells are special cells that possess the potential to develop into
blood cells, cells of the immune system, or other tissues in the human
body. |
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| As a result of this discovery, new techniques
have been developed for the collection and storage of cord blood.
Cord blood is now being made available for transfusion, thus creating
a source of stem cells for transplants. |
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| These developments have led to the establishment
of several cord blood banks in the world, where units are kept frozen,
ready and available for immediate use when a match is found for a
patient. Many conditions, including malignant and non-malignant diseases
of the blood and the immune system, as well as various genetic disorders,
can be treated by stem cell transplantation. Patients suffering from
these conditions desperately need transplants from matched donors
to cure their diseases. |
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| The first step in identifying a suitable
donor is to perform tissue-type analysis on siblings and other family
members. Unfortunately, half the patients requiring transplants do
not have a fully matched donor within their families. The search for
a matched unrelated donor is usually quite prolonged. Furthermore,
the traditional stem cell collection procedure for the transplantation
is relatively complex and requires a serious commitment from the donors
once he or she is found. Unfortunately, many potential donors never
complete the process. As a result, many patients remain without a
donor and eventually succumb to their disease. |
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| Current technologies make it possible
to use "cord-blood" as a source for stem cell transplantation
in place of adult blood or donor bone-marrow cells. Cord blood banks
need large numbers of units in order to provide a pool adequate in
size to respond to the needs of diverse populations. In the general
population, the probability of finding a cord blood match is 1 in
120,000. This means that it would take 120,000 units of stored cord
blood to guarantee a match to everyone in the general population. |
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| There are many biological, immunological,
and logistic advantages to using the cord blood approach over traditional
treatment. Cord blood units, collected and stored ahead of time, are
immediately available for use. For many patients it represents their
last hope when a match is not found. |
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| Cord blood units are currently mostly
suitable for transplant in children and adolescents patients. New
technologies allowing ex-vivo expansion of the cells are showing great
promise and will soon make this treatment suitable for all patients. |
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