cordblood banking

Saturday, September 04, 2010

Archive for March, 2009

What’s Old is New Again? Not in This Case!

You may have seen recent news coverage this month generated by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) challenging the value of private cord blood banking as a result of a small survey conducted with transplant doctors.

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What wasnt covered in these stories is the crucial fact that the survey, which was published in this months issue of the journal, Pediatrics, is not new.  Its outdated.  The data was collected in 2004 – five years ago!  A lot has changed since then. 

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Most importantly, stem cell science itself has changed.  This survey data fails to reflect the pace of breakthrough progress researchers have made evaluating the benefits of infusing newborn stem cells from umbilical cord blood for therapeutic uses far beyond cancers and blood disorders.  By releasing the old survey data now, the AAP has fundamentally ignored the changes taking place in stem cell medicine – as well as the important role of private cord blood banks in the process.

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The use of a childs own (autologous) cord blood stem cells has emerged as an important research focus for regenerative medicine – the ability to fix or regrow specific tissue in the body, such as nerve tissue in the brain or insulin-generating cells in the pancreas.  Because autologous cord blood stem cells are safe and wont be rejected by the body – and because they have one-of-a-kind characteristics compared to other sources of stem cells – they’re an increasing focus of regenerative medicine research. 

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This day, private banking remains the only way to ensure a family has access to autologous cord blood stem cells or those of a sibling.  Its also important to know that there’s up to a 75 percent chance that a siblings cord blood stem cells can be a suitable match for traditional transplant therapies.  In addition, a childs own cord blood might be the preferred option even for certain types of cancers.  Since this survey was fielded, numerous autologous stem cell transplants have been performed for specific cases of leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and solid tumors. 

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Another important change since 2004 is the number and types of physician specialists who are using autologous stem cells – including newborn stem cells from cord blood – for medical therapies.  This survey reflects only the perspectives from hematologists and oncologists who have used stem cells for the treatment of many blood diseases and cancers. However, the past five years have brought many other doctor specialists and some of the most clinically challenging unmet medical needs to the forefront of stem cell medicine.  Neurologists, endocrinologists and others are actively evaluating autologous cord blood to treat conditions such as brain injury, and type 1 diabetes, to name a few.

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What a difference five years makes.

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While concerning, its not surprising that the AAP published this survey.  The academys current cord blood policy discourages family banking except in cases where a family member has a known medical condition that could potentially benefit from stem cell transplantation. 

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However, while family history and existing medical conditions are excellent reasons to bank cord blood, many diseases treatable by cord blood stem cells occur in the absence of any family history and without an affected family member.  Anyones health situation can change at anytime – sometimes unexpectedly. This is another key reason we believe the current AAP policy on cord blood banking is flawed.  Our perspective was first published more than a year ago in an issue of The Journal of Life Sciences.

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Parents with kids suffering from ailments such as brain injury, cerebral palsy, or diabetes AND who have stored their childs cord blood in a family bank now have an option they didnt have five years ago:  they have the opportunity to participate in groundbreaking medical research that’s showing encouraging  potential to treat conditions that have no cure today.

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The bottom line its this: as clinical research continues to advance – and as more expectant parents select to bank their newborns cord blood stem cells – doctors will have the option of using these privately banked cord blood stem cells more often.  Its happening already.  In the last four years, the number of autologous cord blood units released by CBR for medical use has increased 140 percent – a strong indication of the emerging acceptance and use of autologous cord blood stem cells in regenerative medicine.

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A different survey fielded today would most likely offer a very different outcome.

Not All Stem Cells Are the Same

This week the Obama administration has given embryonic stem cell researchers what theyve been seeking:  the potential to receive funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Heres the irony:  now that the funding restrictions are lifted, embryonic stem cells might not be the primary focus of stem cell research anyway. 

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This is articulated very well in an article written for U.S. News & World Report by former director of the NIH, Dr. Bernadine Healy, titled, Why Embryonic Stem Cells Are Obsolete.  Dr. Healy points out that not all stem cells are same and that research with adult stem cells has scored major wins.  On the other hand, recent data shows that embryonic stem cells injected into patients can cause disabling if not deadly tumors (link to PLoS Medicine article).

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However, whats been overlooked in much of the dialogue and debate between embryonic stem cells vs. adult stem cells from bone marrow or blood is that theres a third category of stem cells with very special attributes:  newborn stem cells. 

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Newborn stem cells are a rich and diverse population of stem cells that can be collected from umbilical cord blood without ethical concerns in a 10-minute window immediately following birth.  This population of stem cells is a desirable source for clinical research because they are younger, more flexible and more pristine than adult stem cells.  In addition, newborn stem cells have demonstrated embryonic-like capabilities to proliferate and develop into all of the major cell types in the body; yet they dont carry the same safety concerns as embryonic stem cells. 

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As Dr. Healy points out, there are advantages to using a patients own stem cells in therapy.  There may be even greater advantages to using a patients own newborn stem cells from cord blood.  Researchers are making great strides forward in learning how to use a childs own newborn stem cells to treat conditions that have no cure this day, like diabetes, brain injury and other forms of nerve damage.  According to one physician, "Just a few years ago, umbilical cord blood stem cells were virtually the last defense in many disorders. Now it's the front line defense in many disorders."

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The key to advancing this research is identifying more children who have a specific condition and who have access to their own newborn stem cells.  Some research dollars from the NIH wouldnt injured either.

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Umbilical Cord Blood Banking: Why do Families Bank?

rnrnThe Grandmann family is expecting their first child and speaks about why they decided to preserve their child's umbilical cord blood. To find out if it's right for you, watch their story. For a free cord blood stem cell information kit, visit www.viacord.com/youtubevideos …

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Has anyone done Cord Blood Banking?

I've been debating whether or not to do it, mainly because of financial reasons. I would hate to kick myself later if (god forbid) anything ever happened to our baby, but the initial fee seems so expensive. rnrnDoes anyone know what the payment plan looks like for the first fee of cord blood banking AND does anyone have a nice story to share about how it helped you and your baby? rnrnThanks!n

Embryonic stem cell and bone marrow stem cell combination can prevent transplant- associated tumors

Embryonic stem cells join hands with bone marrow stem cells to prevent transplant- associated tumors and help cure dreaded spinal cord injury(SCI) successfully.

This ground shaking study which is the most important solution ever to proceed embryonic stem cell research, will be published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation(Vol. 18 No.1) where a team of Japanese researchers claimed that they have found a way to eliminate the problem of tumor growth following fetus stem cell transplant.

It could be one of the greatest turning point in the history of stem cell research. This was the most important question to solve for each and every stem cell scientists of the world.

Embryonic stem cell transplantation is recognized as the potential treatment for patients suffering from the effects of spinal cord injury (SCI) and other untreatable diseases. But up till now the vital drawbacks has been the chances of developing tumors as an after effect of the embryonic stem cell transplantation.

Now the research team of the Nara Medical University, Japan, have shown through their study that there is a way to eliminate the problem of tumor growth and that is to co-transplanting bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) along with embryonic stem cells.

In the study a control group of mice that only received ES cells developed tumors at the grafted site and their behavioral improvement ceased after three weeks. No tumors development found in the co-transplantation group and behavioral improvement continued over the five-week study.

According to corresponding author Dr. Masahide Yoshikawa, the study result suggests that co-transplanting BMSCs induce undifferentiated embryonic stem cells to differentiate into a neuronal lineage by neurotrophic factor production, resulting in suppression of tumor formation in SCI model mice.

He also added that the known multipotency of BMSCs during differentiation and their known ability to produce neurotrophic factors, such as nerve growth factor, led us to speculate that co-transplantation of ES cells and BMSCs would provide an advantage over transplantation of ES cells alone.

Second editor of the study Dr. John Sladek, professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, believes that these findings are extremely important and emphasize the need for additional study on how embryonic stem cells may be used to treat human neurological problems.

For furthur information regarding the study you may contact Masahide Yoshikawa, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara Nara 634-8521, Japan myoshika@naramed-u.ac.jp Tel. +81-744-29-8847.

Source: Eurekalert

Filed under Adult Stem Cell, Embryonic Stem Cell, Spinal Cord Injury | Comment Below

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