Cord Blood - Background

Breakthrough research in recent years has proven that cord blood is a rich source for stem cells. Stem cells that are extracted from cord blood have had major medical impact as they can be used for transplants of various kinds with a higher rate of success than adult bone marrow transplants.

There are currently approximately 200,000 available frozen units stored in public cord banks worldwide, of which about 5,000 have been found suitable for transplants (1:40). About 2/3 of the recipients are children and infants, due to the relatively small amount of cells that are present in a unit. However, stem cell transplants, using cord blood cells, have also been successfully performed in adults.

Currently, 5,000 patients a year cannot find a suitable bone marrow donation. This situation is particularly complex among minorities, as those groups only have access to a relative low percentage of the world’s registries. Cord blood is abundant (according to the number of live births), and is a relatively easily collected, separated and stored component. This is the rationale to establish “Cord Blood Banks,” in which the cells are cryogenically stored until a matching patient is found.

A success story

In 1988, a young boy in France suffering from Fanconi’s Anemia (an inherited anemia that leads to bone marrow failure), became the first recipient of a cord blood transplant. In 1991, the second transplant was given to a young boy suffering from acute myeloid leukemia.
Since then, some 5,000 recipients have received transplants with excellent results. In comparison with a standard bone marrow transplant, the time required for the absorption of stem cells is far shorter and the frequency of rejected transplants is considerably less than in the case of conventional transplants. In addition, the stem cells from the cord blood are received by the patient’s immune system as innocent (“naïve”) cells, and are therefore not attacked.