Parents-to-be are bombarded with advertisements regarding umbilical cord blood banking, ads that appeal to the emotional side of umbilical cord blood banking but lack basic information. Just what is umbilical cord blood and what can it be used for?
Umbilical cord blood is the blood that is left in the umbilical cord and placenta after a baby has been born and the umbilical cord has been cut. Umbilical cord blood is a great source of stem cells, which are unspecialized cells that produce blood cells. Stem cells can become platelets (used for blood clotting), red blood cells (which transport oxygen to the cells) and white blood cells (which fight disease).
Doctors use the stem cells from umbilical cord blood to treat hematologic, immunologic and oncologic disorders. While these cells may also be found in bone marrow and circulating blood, cord blood is easier to match to transplant patients than the other two sources. Cord blood may be used by the person who donated the blood (called autologous use) or by somebody else who closely matches the donated cord blood (allogeneic). Unfortunately it is rare that a person's own umbilical cord blood can be used to treat her. Often her own umbilical cord blood cannot be used because it contains the same material that caused the disease in the first place. Donated umbilical cord blood is the most common way for a person to find a match, although sibling cord blood can be used too.
Presently umbilical cord blood is the number one source of stem cells to treat children with diseases which require a stem cell transplant. It is becoming more common in adults as well.
Among the diseases that umbilical cord blood can be used to treat are cancer (including multiple types of leukemia and lymphoma), bone marrow diseases, blood disorders (such as sickle cell anemia), metabolic disorders and immunodeficiencies. Umbilical cord blood is currently being used to treat more than seventy life-threatening diseases, and research is on its way to finding even more uses for it.
To treat these diseases, doctors first give a patient chemotherapy or radiation to kill their present stem cells. Then the patient receives a stem cell transplant. The stem cells travel to bone marrow, make copies of themselves, and produce blood cells that build a healthy body.
The benefits of banking or donating umbilical cord blood are numerous, although not right for everyone. Talk to your doctor about whether banking umbilical cord blood is right for you.
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