UCB transplant is a medical success story, as more than 10,000 UCB units have been used to treat a variety of life-threatening malignant and nonmalignant hematopoietic and immunologic diseases.
Expectant parents currently have 3 UCB options after the birth of their child. they can donate it to a public bank when available, store it in a private bank, or allow it to be discarded.
HSCs dates back to 1974, when relatively high concentrations of colony-forming cells in human UCB were first reported. Interest intensified after 1988, when the first successful transplant was performed in France. Since then, interest has grown steadily both in the United States and abroad. Today, approximately 10,000 patients have been treated for more than 70 diseases, including cancers of the blood and immune system, bone marrow failures, and genetic diseases.
Rapid progress in the field can be attributed to the ability to collect, process, cryopreserve, and store UCB stem cells for extended periods of time. Research demonstrates that the majority of parents do not bank UCB because of a lack of knowledge.
Advancements in the field are recognized, and it is acknowledged that with >70 diseases currently being treated with UCB stem cells, the UCB field can no longer be considered experimental.
The current ACOG opinion states that physicians should provide fair and balanced information about UCB banking options to patients. Some states require OB/GYNs to provide information about UCB banking options to all their prenatal patients.
The use of UCB stem cells may be viewed as an improvement over bone marrow stem cells because they are to harvest, readily available from frozen inventory and immunologically naive.
Although UCB stem cells from an unrelated donor may have utility, the transplantation of UCB stem cells from a related donor is associated with better outcomes in terms of survival rates.
People who have access to stored UCB stem cells from related sources have an optimal chance of obtaining a suitable match.
Long-term storage is essential to maximize the utility of UCB banking and transplantation, but it is also the basis for questions about the effect on the cells’ viability at the time they are required for a transplant. More recent data demonstrates that long-term storage of UCB stem cells is feasible and does not compromise the quality or engraftment ability of the unit.
-Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is rich in stem cells-a valuable life-saving resource.
-Cord blood stem cells, like bone marrow stem cells, are noncontroversial.
-UCB is currently used in the treatment of more than 70 life-threatening diseases, including oncologic disorders, bone marrow failures, hematologic disorders, metabolic disorders, and immunodeficencies.
-The lifetime probability of undergoing a stem cell transplant is 1 in 217.
-Transplants using cord blood cells from a blood-related family are twice as successful than transplants using unrelated (public) cord blood.
-Medical researchers are now exploring potential new treatments using UCB to treat conditions such as Cerebral palsy and Diabetes.