| Description of Presentation |
The cells used to treat blood cancers, anemias, and for regenerative medicine can come from many different sources, such as Bone Marrow, Mobilized Peripheral Blood, and a newborn baby’s Umbilical Cord Blood. These sources of adult cells are FDA-approved and used to treat over 70 different blood, immune and genetic diseases. However, most hospitals do not give parents an option to donate their child’s umbilical cord cells to others already diagnosed with treatable illnesses like blood cancers. 35,000 people a year are looking for a transplant donor, but less than 15,000 patients receive a transplant, and those are mostly from a known family member.
Umbilical cord blood cells are a noninvasive adult source of renewable blood cells, are not derived from embryos, and are not controversial. Adult bone marrow and cord blood cells are even endorsed by the Vatican as an alternative to using embryonic stem cells.
If using Bone Marrow or Peripheral Stem Cells from a living Donor, they must be identified and the stem cells harvested after the need is identified (e.g. a child already has Leukemia). The search process is lengthy and not always successful because each individual Recipient needs a specific combination of genetically matched cells, unlike Red Blood Cell transfusions where the number of blood types is limited to a few major types. Moreover, the time frame allowable for the “search” is dictated by the illness of the patient. Matching Tissue Transplants or Stem Cells requires quickly finding a “needle in a haystack” for a sick patient when there is no close family match. And unfortunately, thousands may be screened without finding a genetic match.
One potential alternative to this harrowing search for a marrow donor is to have an already frozen registry of Umbilical Cord Blood Stem cells available for search for a match. The National Marrow Donor Program facilitates Cord Blood collection in a limited number of sites throughout the USA and hosts a national registry, but the numbers of donated CB units are still not sufficient to “match” all those that are in desperate need for one. Not all donated units are suitable for transplantation and many existing banks are working at near capacity.
In the NYC area over 90,000 babies are born each year, and over 90% of the potentially lifesaving umbilical cord blood stem cells are being discarded as medical waste. We desperately need more cord blood processing laboratories. The Children’s Cord Blood Bank is working to make this a reality, and provide Staten Island with one of those locations.
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| Additional Information |
The collection of donated public cord blood units is free to the public, but varies state to state. New York state does not provide access to this vital service for all parents, which results in an unequitable burden to minority and multi-ethnicity parents and their children.
Umbilical Cord Blood is now being tested in clinical trials to treat autism, post-birth blindness, diabetes, and cardio-vascular diseases, among others. In order to be prepared to all treat children and adults in the future, in a nondiscriminatory way, the time to make this issue understood is now. |