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USING OF UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD

The following overview introduces groups of diseases and their most common factors:

DISEASES TREATED USING THE TRANSPLANTATION OF UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD

WHERE HEMATOPOEITIC STEM CELLS COME FROM

Bone marrow – collected from the hipbone where it is found in liquid form. This area is saturated with bone marrow rich in hematopoietic stem cells. The transplantation process of bone marrow can take longer in adults, however, because fully developed immune systems slow the take-up process, as the ageing process of the cells and the treatments limits the ability of the bone marrow cells to multiply. It is necessary to have complete tissue compatibility between the recipient and the donor. Ideally, bone marrow is collected from donors between the ages of 18 and 35. Their collection depends on the donor’s health and willingness at the time of need. There are no stored bone marrow transplants in the registry; the registry holds the names of potential donors. Bone marrow donors are very needed and requested. If you would like to become a bone marrow donor, you can find more information at www.kostnidren.cz/registr/ or at www.czechbmd.cz.

Umbilical cord blood – collected from the umbilical cord and the placenta at the time of childbirth. Transplant take-up requires more time, but is more successful. These stem cells have higher levels of vitality and an intense ability to multiply themselves. The disadvantage here is the low level of hematopoietic stem cells, which are used in the treatment of children. (Some types of umbilical cord blood cells can be used in combination with others, mainly in the event of alogeneic transplantation, where the cells can combine successfully. Methods are also being developed to increase the number of stem cells according to the specific need/weight of the patient.) Umbilical cord blood is not 100% immunologically developed – it is referred to as “naïve or immature” which allows it to be used in cases with lower levels of donor compatibility. In autologous (self-donated) umbilical cord blood grafts, the compatability ratio is 1:1 (100%, the donor is the recipient). Very often the cells of siblings are used, which have a compatibility ratio of 1:4 (25% between the donor and the recipient)! Nowadays, parents can decide whether to donate the umbilical cord blood or store it for personal use, either for the child or the mother (see What can umbilical cord blood do? Do I choose to store the umbilical cord blood for my own uses or to donate it to the public registry for the use of others? )

Peripheral blood – collected from the blood stream after the bone marrow has been stimulated using a growth hormone (G-CSF). The advantage is a successful take-up with less strain on the patient, when compared to collecting bone marrow. Hematopoietic stem cells from peripheral blood are collected from the patients’ vein by a special machine, where the stem cells are separated (known as leukapheresis) from the blood and the remaining elements are then returned to the donor’s body.

TRANSPLANTATION OF HAEMATOPOIETIC CELLS

This is a standard method of therapy primarily used not only in the treatment of hematological diseases but also in the treatment of solid tumors (myeloma, lymphoma) and mainly in the treatment of benign diseases. Today, thanks to modern methods these transplants are inserted into many patients at an earlier stage of the disease and thus reducing the risk of side effects. Nonetheless, a procedure is used for very serious and life-threatening diseases.  Like other methods of treatment, the stem cell transplantation affects the course of disease and subsequently the quality of patient’s life. …read more >>

Benefits from own umbilical cord blood transplant

Presently, within the frame of your own (autologous) transplants, in particular, transplants from bone marrow, umbilical cord blood and peripheral blood are primarily used.  In comparison with bone marrow and peripheral blood, the umbilical cord blood with its hematopoietic stem cells has many advantages and qualities:

  • Collection of umbilical cord blood – is quick and completely painless and in any way it does not burden or put stress on either the baby or the mother, unlike during the bone marrow sampling.
  • Quality of hematopoietic stem cells – umbilical cord blood has an indisputable advantage in its “purity and youth”, unlike bone marrow transplants that need to undergo many adjusted treatments and therapies and has a faster aging process, which has negative influence on the ability of cell division.
  • Immediate use – a transplant from umbilical cord blood is ready for immediate use, we know its quality and its characteristics.  After the final quality check of the transplant from frozen samples it is immediately ready for use.
  • Accessibility – as many as one third of patients, which do not have or cannot have their own (autologous) transplant, cannot also undergo an appropriate graft transplant.  To find a suitable donor is not easy and in case the patient needs autologous transplant it is a disadvantage that he or she does not have their own autotransplant.
  • Genetic identity – is absolute consensus on the child’s blood, which was collected from umbilical cord and the placenta.  Thus, there is no risk of post-transplant complications.

The only option, and in some way a disadvantage, is the time of the umbilical cord blood collection, i.e., at the time of childbirth. Roughly speaking, the collection can be done only once in a lifetime. The quantity of stem cells, and thus the quantitative product of the graft, is totally an individual issue and we are unable to predict it in advance. It is not possible to affect the volume of collected cord blood or the number of stem cells and therefore the transplant may not be sufficiently large enough so that it can be used for the treatment of an adult human.  The applicability of the graft is determined by the number of nuclear stem cells, which is provided through the analysis of the collected umbilical cord blood at the time of its processing in the laboratory (maximum weight of the patient).

Umbilical cord blood can also cure siblings…>>

Probability of using umbilical cord blood…>>

TO STORE OR TO DONATE?

What to do with umbilical cord blood?  To store it for personal use of the child or donate it to the public registry? ...read more >>