Cord Blood Donations

Medical research has led to an important discovery: the blood in a baby's umbilical cord contains special cells that are being used to treat a variety of life-threatening illnesses, such as leukemia, other cancers, aplastic anemia, and blood and immune disorders. In 1988, the first cord blood transplant was performed in Paris on a patient with Fanconi anemia.

Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells; these cells generate red blood cells to nourish tissue and white blood cells to resist disease. Stem cells also exist in bone marrow, but the concentration in cord blood is much higher. In addition, bone marrow collections cause some discomfort for the donor and the collected marrow must be used almost immediately. With cord blood collections, there is no discomfort for the mother or baby and the collected blood can be stored, frozen with liquid nitrogen at -120°C, for at least 10 years.

Today, more and more expectant parents are choosing to donate their cord blood for use in transplant therapy and research. These parents realize that a cord blood transplant might be the only chance at life for some people, primarily children who suffer from life-threatening diseases.

The collection process is fairly simply and occurs after the baby's delivery. Instead of discarding the placenta and umbilical cord, the blood in the umbilical cord is collected by simply inserting a needle into the cord and drawing out the blood into a syringe. This collection occurs with no discomfort to the mother or the baby. The cord blood is then processed and stored, in a frozen state, until it is needed for transplant.

Most community cord blood banks are affiliated with research programs accepted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the National Institutes of Health (NIH). These programs collect cord blood for public use and seek to determine the best collection, preparation and storage techniques. The collected cord blood units are listed on databases searchable by transplant physicians around the world.

Similarities to Bone Marrow Transplants
When a patient searches for a bone marrow donor, the stem cells contained within the marrow are the key to treatment. These stem cells, the building blocks of red and white blood cells, provide the foundation for the immune system. Finding a bone marrow match can be a difficult process. In the United States, approximately 20 percent of patients searching for a bone marrow donor will die before a match is found. Since cord blood contains the same type of stem cells as bone marrow, it offers additional hope for patients. Cord blood has shown potential as more flexible than bone marrow in patient matching.