Why Bank Stem Cells

Future application of cord blood stem cells

The list of stem cell treatable diseases continues to grow at a rapid pace. With the potential to become different cell types, scientists are exploring the possibility of using cord blood stem cells to treat some of the most common life-threatening diseases such as heart diseases and stroke. Thus, saving your baby’s cord blood now can ensure your child's access to his/her own stem cells for such cellular therapy in the future.

Current most commonly researched stem cell treatments
Repair nerve cells
To heal brain and spinal cord injuries or brain damage caused by stroke
Regenerate cells to form new blood vessels
To treat heart and circulatory disease
Replace damaged cells
To improve recovery from cardiovascular diseases, a heart attack, or injury
Regenerate brain cells
To treat brain injury, cerebral palsy and Parkinson’s disease


Part of ongoing clinical trials in the U.S
Malignant Diseases:
  • Griscelli Syndrome
  • Hodgkin's Disease
  • Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis
  • Hurler Disease
  • Hurler-Scheie Disease
  • Hypoplastic Leukemia
  • I-cell Disease
  • Infantile Ceroid Lipofucoscinosis
  • Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura
  • Juvenile Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia
  • Juvenile Mono-Myelocytic Leukemia
Non-malignant diseases:
  • Congenital Cytopenia
  • Polycythemia Vera
  • Gaucher’s Disease
  • Sandhoff Disease
  • SCID with Adenosine Deaminase Deficiency
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Type 1 Diabetes
  • Cerebral palsy

How Are Stem Cells Used

Stem Cell Transplantation

This is done to reconstitute a patient's blood and immune system, following treatments such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy, which destroys blood cells.

The stem cells are infused directly into the patient's bloodstream, which migrate to the bone marrow. Inside the bone marrow environment, the stem cells begin differentiating into the three blood cell types - red blood, white blood and platelets. This initiates the regeneration of the patient's blood and immune system.

The first cord blood transplant was performed in 1988 in France, which successfully treated a 5-year old boy with Fanconi's Anaemia. To date there have been more than 30,000 cord blood stem cell transplants reported worldwide.1

 

Cellular Therapies

Many newer applications are still undergoing development. In some cases, like spinal cord injury and heart attacks, the cells are directly injected into the damaged tissues. Some of the benefits experienced appear to be due to new blood vessel formation, which restores blood flow to damaged tissue.

As these treatments develop, we expect to see cord blood stem cells used in different ways. In some cases, the stem cells will be treated in the laboratory to make new cell types before use. In other cases, they will be delivered directly into the damaged tissue.

View video on "Cordlife's successful transplant to treat leukemia".

 

    Source:
  1. Ballen K., Gluckman E., Broxmeyer H. Umbilical cord blood transplantation: the first 25 years and beyond. Blood. 2013;122(4):491-498.
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