Cord Blood: To Save Or Not?

Stem Cells From Umbilical Cords Can Treat Diseases, But Should Parents Invest In Keeping Them?

(CBS)  These days pregnant mothers are asked a question barely heard of ten years ago: Do you want to save your baby's umbilical cord blood? This blood has stem cells with special properties that can heal the body from diseases like leukemia. A new study Monday shows their promise in treating type 1 diabetes.

But banking cord blood can be expensive for parents, Dr. Jon Lapook reports.

James was six weeks old when he was diagnosed with leukemia and given a 50-50 shot at survival.

“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare,” said James' mother, Maura. “We were in shock. We were devastated.”

His best hope was a stem-cell transplant.

Fortunately, two years earlier, on a whim, his parents had saved his sister’s umbilical cord blood.

“Aileen was a perfect match,” Maura said. “They said, ‘you hit the lottery.’”

Parents looking for a medical safety net have turned private cord blood banking into a multi-million dollar industry.

There are 26 private banks in the United States. After an initial fee averaging $1,500, most banks charge $100 per year for storage. That adds up to $3,500 by the time a child is 21 years old – a high price tag for something you might not ever need.

There is another option that doesn’t cost a penny: donating to a public bank.

The donated cells are then available to any patient. But there’s no guarantee of donors getting their own cells back. Another problem: fewer than 10 percent of hospitals offer cord blood collection, so precious stem cells are going to waste.

If you don’t donate those cells, what happens to them?

“They will go in the trash,” said Pablo Rubinstein, director of the New York City cord blood program.

Right now cord blood is mostly used to treat blood diseases. But there's hope that someday, it will be used to treat heart disease and diabetes.

For now, the odds of needing stem cells are one in 20,000.

The parents of James are glad they took those odds.

Their best moment, according to Maura, was “probably when we came back from the hospital. And we were all together again.”

Thanks to his sister Aileen, today 4-year-old James is considered cured.

[lbeana]

IN THE YEAR 2000 MY GRANDNIECE WAS BORN AND 8 MONTHS LATER SHE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH LEUKEMIA. SHE WAS DOING OKAY WITH HER TREATMENT AT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL IN SEATTLE,WA. HER PARENTS THEN HAD A SECOND CHILD IN AUGUST OF 2001,AND CHOSE TO BANK THIS CHILD'S BLOOD FROM HER CORD. AFTER INITIAL TREATMENTS LATER ON FAILED HER SISTER'S BLOOD CORD WAS GIVEN TO HER. FOUR YEARS HAVE COME AND GONE AND MY GRANDNIECE WHO IS RIGHT NOW 7 YEARS OLD AND 5 MONTHS AND IS STILL GOING STRONG AND HER BOND WITH HER SISTER IS SOMETHING ONLY WE WHO KNOW THEM AND WATCH THEM CAN SEE THE LOVE THEY SHARE. THANK GOD TO BLOOD CORD TRANSPLANT AND THE AMAZING DOCTORS FROM CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL IN SEATTLE AND ALL THE BLOOD BANKS OF AMERICA.

[fverter]

The correct odds of use are not one in 20,000
but one in 200 over the course of a lifetime.
Published in Blood (2005) 106:1330 by authors
Pasquini, Logan, Verter, Horowitz & Nietfeld.

submitted by Frances Verter, PhD

[emmadg]

My daughter was saved by a PUBLIC cord blood bank. To me public is the one way to save a cord, unless there is a pre-existing condition. I am sad to see there is not a balanced view of how to save cord blood.
Somewheere out there is a mother who donated her baby's cord, and has no idea that my daughter is alive because of it.
I have known far too many children to die waiting for matches that never came - I would hate to think one was rotting away in the private vault of a healthy child (just incase)

I think it should absolutely be saved - in a public bank.

[emmadg]

My daughter was saved by a PUBLIC cord blood bank. To me public is the one way to save a cord, unless there is a pre-existing condition. I am sad to see there is not a balanced view of how to save cord blood.
Somewheere out there is a mother who donated her baby's cord, and has no idea that my daughter is alive because of it.
I have known far too many children to die waiting for matches that never came - I would hate to think one was rotting away in the private vault of a healthy child (just incase)

I think it should absolutely be saved - in a public bank.

[klosinski1]

I donated my second son's cord blood to a bank for research or for use by another family in 2002. I work as an L&D nurse and am amazed that we throw away what could be such an important resource. If you know a pregnant woman, encourage them to donate! It is free!!!!

[future121]

I am not sure this is "news". In 1977 when my first chaild was born they asked me donate my platena and cord to a bank. What happen to that arrangement 30 years ago?

[future121]

By the way, I did donate it to the bank. I thought that was normal.

[andyteasley]

In 1997 I read a flier from the Cord Blood Registry while waiting for my wife at the OB/GYN office. My wife and I decided to spend one weeks wages to bank our daughters cord blood a few weeks later when she was born. Last year my daughter was diagnosed with a disease called Aplastic Anemia (her bone marrow stopped making blood) One of the most successful treatments for this disease is Bone Marrow Transplant so she was given a massive dose of chemotherapy to kill the disease and then her own cord blood stem cells were introduced into her body. Normally a BMT patient is in the hospital for 6 weeks fighting host vs graft disease but my daughter was out in 21 days since it was her own blood she has had no host vs graft disease. In my opinion banking her cord blood saved her life. I encourage everyone I meet to self bank and forgo whatever that it takes. Andy Teasley

[kendallays]

I am a volunteer with The Brady Kohn Foundation in Delaware. Our mission is to educate the public about the potential of stem cells from umbilical cord blood and to fund non-embryonic stem cell research. In 2002, our foundation was created by Carolyn and Andrew Kohn, in loving memory and in honor of their son, Andrew "Brady" Kohn with the huge support of family and friends.
In September 2001, two and a half year old Brady acquired an unknown hepatitis virus that shut down his bone marrow and he developed aplastic anemia. After unsuccessfully going through drug treatment, Brady underwent a bone marrow transplant using umbilical cord stem cells saved at the time of his own birth in 1999. Although signs of the transplant were extremely promising, Brady experienced complications. We lost this amazing life on March 28, 2002.
Umbilical cord blood stem cells are used to treat more than 45 life-threatening diseases, including leukemia, blood disorders, immune deficiencies, cancers and other genetic diseases. Each year, approximately 30,000 patients in the U.S. are diagnosed with diseases that can be treated with a stem cell transplant. Cord blood is medical waste that can save a life. Unfortunately not enough people know about the option to donate their baby%u2019s cord blood. If you know someone who is pregnant, please tell them to do something with their baby%u2019s cord blood %u2013 privately bank it or publicly bank it %u2013 just don%u2019t let them throw it away.

[darlenedavl1]

My son was cured of sickle cell anemia with a cord blood stem cell transplant from a free, designated transplant program for families in need of a transplant from a private cord blood bank. Cord blood Registry provided my family with a miracle that saved my son Joseph from this painful and fatal disease. It is a good thing that my OB knew about this program and told us about it. Given the current guidelines issued earlier this year by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), we should not have banked our cord blood at all because there was no prior history of disease in our family. I hope CBS stories like this one and the others that have posted here convince the AAP to update their thinking and realize how many lives are saved by both banking and donating cord blood stem cells. My son Joseph, Jr. is healthy, living proof! Darlene Davis

[darlenedavl1]

My son was cured of sickle cell anemia with a cord blood stem cell transplant from a free, designated transplant program for families in need from a private cord blood bank. Cord blood Registry provided my family with a miracle that saved my son Joseph from this painful and fatal disease. It is a good thing that my OB knew about this program and told us about it. Given the current guidelines issued earlier this year by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), we should not have banked our cord blood at all because there was no prior history of disease in our family. I hope CBS stories like this one and the others that have posted here convince the AAP to update their thinking and realize how many lives are saved by both banking and donating cord blood stem cells. My son Joseph, Jr. is healthy, living proof! Darlene Davis

[rfariello]

Dr. LaPook's report will raise awareness about the medical benefits of banking cord blood stem cells, but it missed mentioning the single most important development since cord blood banking began over a decade ago. It's called PlacentaCord banking. By banking stem cells derived from the placenta as well as umbilical cord blood, families may save as much as twice the number of CD34+ stem cells for use in transplants. Having as many of these stem cells is medically important: published research shows that the size of the stem cell transplant (especially the number of CD34 cells) is consistently a significant factor in achieving a successful treatment and patient survival. LifebankUSA, which provided extensive production assistance to CBS Evening News for Dr. LaPook's story, pioneered PlacentaCord banking, which is available nationally.

Ralph Fariello
Director, LifebankUSA

[cryobanks]

Thank you to CBS for reporting on the need and ability to donate your baby's cord blood. As an NMDP member cord blood bank, and being Accredited by the AABB, Cryobanks International has the unique ability to accept donations from anywhere in the continental US, any day of the week. Qualified donors must register with Cryobanks to obtain their collection kit prior to their 35th week of pregnancy.
We encourage all expecting parents to consider their options carefully. The decision to donate your cord blood, as you will see in the other comments, can have a tremendous effect for another human being.