Creating a Cord-Blood Lifeline
"The potential is so significant," says Dr. Jennifer Willert, a stem-cell transplant specialist at the Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. "Not to have families know about the possibility of banking, that's tragic."
Parents generally see private banking as an insurance policy should their child or a sibling fall ill later in life. Public donation does not guarantee availability to the donor's family should the need later arise. "If you don't save the cells [privately], they can never be fully yours," says Dave Zitlow, a spokesman for San Francisco-based Cord Blood Registry, the world's largest cord-blood private bank.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Stem Cells From Cord Blood And Cardiovascular Diseases
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the U.S. Approximately one million people die of cardiovascular disease annually despite medical intervention, with coronary artery disease claiming 50 percent of those lives.
The stem cells found in a newborn's umbilical cord blood are one type of stem cell holding great promise in cardiovascular repair
Full Article
The stem cells found in a newborn's umbilical cord blood are one type of stem cell holding great promise in cardiovascular repair
Full Article
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Study Analysis: High Percentage of Blood Disorder Patients Were Cured or Achieved Remission When Treated with Stem Cells from Their Own Cord Blood...
via Business Wire
Study Analysis: High Percentage of Blood Disorder Patients Were Cured or Achieved Remission When Treated with Stem Cells from Their Own Cord Blood or a Sibling’s Data Presented at Major Medical Meeting Also Highlights Low Risk of Transplant-Related Complications with Genetically-Related Cord Blood Stem Cells
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a retrospective review of blood disorder patients treated with stem cells from their own cord blood (autologous transplant) or from the cord blood of a sibling (allogeneic-related transplant), the majority of the patients were cured or achieved remission
Full Article
Study Analysis: High Percentage of Blood Disorder Patients Were Cured or Achieved Remission When Treated with Stem Cells from Their Own Cord Blood or a Sibling’s Data Presented at Major Medical Meeting Also Highlights Low Risk of Transplant-Related Complications with Genetically-Related Cord Blood Stem Cells
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a retrospective review of blood disorder patients treated with stem cells from their own cord blood (autologous transplant) or from the cord blood of a sibling (allogeneic-related transplant), the majority of the patients were cured or achieved remission
Full Article
Monday, February 11, 2008
Leukemia and Cord Blood Stem Cells
Could These Two Little Girls Help Researchers Find the Cure???
These two sweet little girls have opened the door to a new look at leukemia.
The breakthrough came through studying four-year-old identical twins Olivia, who has leukemia, and Isabella, who is healthy. They found that both twins had abnormal ‘pre-leukemia’ stem cells in their blood that can either lie dormant in the bone marrow or develop into full-blown leukemia stem cells. The results were then confirmed with experiments using human cord blood cells.
Link to original blog post
Cord Blood Comparable To Matched Bone Marrow, According To Research -Link to Science Daily
These two sweet little girls have opened the door to a new look at leukemia.
The breakthrough came through studying four-year-old identical twins Olivia, who has leukemia, and Isabella, who is healthy. They found that both twins had abnormal ‘pre-leukemia’ stem cells in their blood that can either lie dormant in the bone marrow or develop into full-blown leukemia stem cells. The results were then confirmed with experiments using human cord blood cells.
Link to original blog post
Cord Blood Comparable To Matched Bone Marrow, According To Research -Link to Science Daily
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Association of Family Cord Blood Banks Applauds ACOG Opinion
via Business Wire
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a statement issued today, the Association of Family Cord Blood Banks (AFCBB) expressed support for updated recommendations on cord blood banking put forward by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a statement issued today, the Association of Family Cord Blood Banks (AFCBB) expressed support for updated recommendations on cord blood banking put forward by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
Friday, February 1, 2008
Cord Blood Banking - ACOG Revises Opinion
Washington, DC -- Physicians should give balanced information to their pregnant patients who are considering cord blood banking, presenting both the advantages and disadvantages of public vs. private cord blood banks, according to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in a revised Committee Opinion published today in the February issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. ACOG also advises physicians who recruit patients for for-profit cord blood banking to disclose their financial interests or other potential conflicts of interest to pregnant women and their families.
Blood from a newborn's umbilical cord, once considered a waste product that was routinely discarded along with the placenta, is now considered to contain potentially life-saving stem cells. Private banks were initially developed to store cord blood stem cells from newborns, for a fee, for potential future use by the same child or a family member if he/she developed disease later in life. Today, there are public banks that store, for free, stem cells that can be used by anyone needing them similar to how public blood banks work.
"Patients need to be aware that the chances are remote that the stem cells from their baby's banked cord blood will be used to treat that same child—or another family member—in the future," said Anthony R. Gregg, MD, chair of ACOG's Committee on Genetics. ACOG's Committee Opinion is a joint document produced by the Committee on Obstetric Practice and the Committee on Genetics.
Although ACOG takes no position for or against cord blood banking, it recommends that physicians disclose that there is no reliable estimate of a child's likelihood of actually using his or her own saved cord blood later. Some experts estimate this likelihood at 1 in 2,700, while others argue the rate is even lower. Physicians should also disclose to their patients that it is unknown how long cord blood can successfully be stored.
Pregnant women should be aware that stem cells from cord blood cannot currently be used to treat inborn errors of metabolism or other genetic diseases in the same individual from which they were collected because the cord blood would have the same genetic mutation. "Cord blood collected from a newborn that later develops childhood leukemia cannot be used to treat that leukemia for much the same reason," said Dr. Gregg.
Federal legislation was passed in 2005 that provides funding for continued growth of a national cord blood registry in the US. Several states have laws requiring physicians to inform patients about cord blood banking options. Physicians should consult with their state medical association for more information about their individual state laws.
Committee Opinion #399, "Umbilical Cord Blood Banking," is published in the February 2008 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
# # #
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is the national medical organization representing over 52,000 members who provide health care for women.
Blood from a newborn's umbilical cord, once considered a waste product that was routinely discarded along with the placenta, is now considered to contain potentially life-saving stem cells. Private banks were initially developed to store cord blood stem cells from newborns, for a fee, for potential future use by the same child or a family member if he/she developed disease later in life. Today, there are public banks that store, for free, stem cells that can be used by anyone needing them similar to how public blood banks work.
"Patients need to be aware that the chances are remote that the stem cells from their baby's banked cord blood will be used to treat that same child—or another family member—in the future," said Anthony R. Gregg, MD, chair of ACOG's Committee on Genetics. ACOG's Committee Opinion is a joint document produced by the Committee on Obstetric Practice and the Committee on Genetics.
Although ACOG takes no position for or against cord blood banking, it recommends that physicians disclose that there is no reliable estimate of a child's likelihood of actually using his or her own saved cord blood later. Some experts estimate this likelihood at 1 in 2,700, while others argue the rate is even lower. Physicians should also disclose to their patients that it is unknown how long cord blood can successfully be stored.
Pregnant women should be aware that stem cells from cord blood cannot currently be used to treat inborn errors of metabolism or other genetic diseases in the same individual from which they were collected because the cord blood would have the same genetic mutation. "Cord blood collected from a newborn that later develops childhood leukemia cannot be used to treat that leukemia for much the same reason," said Dr. Gregg.
Federal legislation was passed in 2005 that provides funding for continued growth of a national cord blood registry in the US. Several states have laws requiring physicians to inform patients about cord blood banking options. Physicians should consult with their state medical association for more information about their individual state laws.
Committee Opinion #399, "Umbilical Cord Blood Banking," is published in the February 2008 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
# # #
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is the national medical organization representing over 52,000 members who provide health care for women.
Stem Cell Clinical Trials for Stroke & Cerebral Palsy
via Science Daily
Two new federally funded studies are investigating the optimal dosage and timing for stem cell therapy in adults with strokes and newborns with ischemic injuries, which can result in cerebral palsy. The studies are currently using bone marrow stem cells in animal models, but lead researchers indicate that success during preliminary studies could lead to human clinical trials within two years.
If these additional laboratory studies replicate the promising results of the pilot studies, which indicate about a 25 percent improvement in recovery over controls, MCG and VA researchers hope to begin clinical trials in new ischemic injuries in adults and children within two years.
“We are looking at different procedures that we can adopt from the laboratory for the clinic,” Dr. Borlongan says. “We have at least 10 years of basic research that clearly shows that stem cells have the potential to be a new therapy for adult stroke.”
“This is a whole new paradigm, a totally different way of targeting disease,” says Dr. David Hess, chair of the MCG Department of Neurology and co-investigator. Clot buster tPA is the only drug that is FDA-approved to treat ischemic strokes; an often-delayed diagnosis and a three-hour treatment window mean only a small percentage of patients get it.
Drs. Hess and Borlongan say cell therapy could eventually be used alone or in conjunction with tPA, if recovery is not sufficient. Pilot studies indicate cell therapy can be of benefit up to seven days after a stroke but that two days out is the optimal time of delivery. “This will allow us to enroll patients who get tPA, give us plenty of time to assess them and prepare the cells,” says Dr. Borlongan.
Their success in an adult stroke model led the researchers to explore the potential for helping babies recover from hypoxic ischemia, a loss of blood and oxygen that can result in cerebral palsy, broadly defined as a brain injury that occurs before or during birth.
Two new federally funded studies are investigating the optimal dosage and timing for stem cell therapy in adults with strokes and newborns with ischemic injuries, which can result in cerebral palsy. The studies are currently using bone marrow stem cells in animal models, but lead researchers indicate that success during preliminary studies could lead to human clinical trials within two years.
If these additional laboratory studies replicate the promising results of the pilot studies, which indicate about a 25 percent improvement in recovery over controls, MCG and VA researchers hope to begin clinical trials in new ischemic injuries in adults and children within two years.
“We are looking at different procedures that we can adopt from the laboratory for the clinic,” Dr. Borlongan says. “We have at least 10 years of basic research that clearly shows that stem cells have the potential to be a new therapy for adult stroke.”
“This is a whole new paradigm, a totally different way of targeting disease,” says Dr. David Hess, chair of the MCG Department of Neurology and co-investigator. Clot buster tPA is the only drug that is FDA-approved to treat ischemic strokes; an often-delayed diagnosis and a three-hour treatment window mean only a small percentage of patients get it.
Drs. Hess and Borlongan say cell therapy could eventually be used alone or in conjunction with tPA, if recovery is not sufficient. Pilot studies indicate cell therapy can be of benefit up to seven days after a stroke but that two days out is the optimal time of delivery. “This will allow us to enroll patients who get tPA, give us plenty of time to assess them and prepare the cells,” says Dr. Borlongan.
Their success in an adult stroke model led the researchers to explore the potential for helping babies recover from hypoxic ischemia, a loss of blood and oxygen that can result in cerebral palsy, broadly defined as a brain injury that occurs before or during birth.
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