Umbilical cord blood storage is an option that new parents are considering. Storing cord blood in a cord blood bank is insurance that a treatment is available should a family member develop a disease such as leukemia. Cord blood is used in the same way as bone marrow. The risks of a bone marrow transplant are greater for both the donor and the recipient than with cord blood transplants.
A bone marrow transplant procedure may be performed when stem cells are needed for treatment. The transplant is an invasive procedure for the donor and has associated risks that are inherent to any surgical procedure, such as infection, bleeding, or even death. Cord blood donations can be done at no risk to the donor.
How Stem Cells Work
Stem cells are cells that have not differentiated and have no specific purpose. They can divide multiple times and can become differentiated cells with a specific purpose, such as the red blood cells that carry oxygen to the body's tissues. Stem cells are involved with the healing process and can travel to injured areas of the body to become bone, cartilage, connective tissue, or other kinds of cells that are needed.
Bone Marrow Transplant Procedure
Bone marrow stem cells give rise to blood cells and can benefit those with blood disorders such as leukemia. The challenge of bone marrow transplants is the possibility of the stem cells attacking the transplant patient's tissues. This is called graft-versus-host disease. It is the result of the disease-fighting T cells in the donor's bone marrow recognizing the recipient's tissues as foreign. The T cells go through an immune response and attack the foreign tissue.
Umbilical Cord Stem Cells
According to the University of Utah Genetic Science Learning Center article, "Stem Cell Therapies Today," from November 25, 2009, fetal stem cells from cord blood are new and do not have the developed immunity that exists in bone marrow or adult blood. For this reason, the likelihood of graft-versus-host disease is less with cord blood transplants. The recipient's immune system is also less likely to recognize the cord blood as foreign.
Cord Blood Transplants
How do cord blood transplants work? Leukemia is a good case study because it is the abnormal development of white blood cells. These white blood cells are created in the bone marrow. The first step to treating leukemia is to destroy the bone marrow and the abnormal blood cells. This is done using chemotherapy and radiation.
After destroying the abnormal bone marrow and white blood cells, the cord blood stem cells are injected into the recipient's bloodstream. The stem cells migrate into the bones and differentiate to produce healthy bone marrow and normal white blood cells.
Umbilical Cord Blood Banking – Collecting the Umbilical Cord Stem Cells
Cord blood collection is a very easy process for the donor. Within 15 minutes of childbirth, the umbilical cord blood is either drained into a bag or collected with a syringe. The blood is shipped to a laboratory for processing within 48 hours of collection. The fetal stem cells are separated from the other blood components, such as red blood cells and plasma, and placed into vials.
The cord blood stem cell-containing vials are gradually cooled until they can safely be frozen. Securacell is a cryogenic cord blood storage facility. According to an article on their web site, "How Will My Cord Blood Be Processed," the necessity of gradual cooling is explained: "The progression to lower and lower temperatures keeps the cells from going into shock from the extreme negative temperature of -321° Fahrenheit."
Umbilical cord blood banking facilitates the opportunity to transplant stem cells without going through the process of collecting bone marrow from a donor. The fetal stem cells are less likely to cause an immune response making cord blood transplants safer than bone marrow transplants.
Diane Ursu - Diane Ursu joined Suite101 as a contributing writer in August 2009 and became a Feature Writer in January 2010. She is a freelance writer ...
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