Frequently Asked Questions

According to a published research blood forming umbilical cord blood stem cells stored up to 20 years can be used in transplants

Currently, cord blood is being used to treat malignant diseases such as

1. Leukemia, Lymphoma, Neuroblastoma (an early childhood cancer that originates in the adrenal gland), and numerous other types of cancer.
    
2. It is also being used to treat non-malignant diseases such as Aplastic Anemia (when your blood is deficient in healthy red blood cells), Thalassemia (a blood condition that interferes with hemoglobin production), Congenital Cytopenia (a blood cell deficiency), Hunter Syndrome (interferes with the body's ability to break down a toxic complex carbohydrate), Osteopetrosis (bone abnormalities such as brittle bones),
    
3. Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Syndrome (a rare congenital syndrome resulting in frequent infections), Sickle Cell Anemia (rapid breakdown of red blood cells so oxygen does not get to the body's organs), Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome (defects in the immune system that cause recurrent infections), and many others.
    
4. Diabetes is being under trials, with a lot of hope shining up in the horizon
    
5. While these are known diseases which cord blood is being used to treat, medical professionals are hopeful regarding the future treatment possibilities of umbilical cord blood stem cells.
    

It is important that your baby's blood is being stored in a bank that has a proven history and one whose specimens have been used repeatedly in successful transplant operations:

1. It is vital that they engage in sound and ethical business practices and maintain all required regulatory licenses and certificates of accreditation. The FDA now regulates private cord blood banking. By selecting a facility that is also a Blood Center, you know they are required to follow all FDA regulations and good manufacturing practices (GMP) guidelines.
    
2. For immediate response capabilities, they are staffed 24/7 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) to receive and process cord blood specimens.
    
3. Further, their separation protocols should be validated as a contamination-free, high yielding retrieval process and be a transplant physician-preferred stem cell processing method. All cord blood samples should be tested for bacterial contamination, total nucleated, CD34+ and viability cell counts.
    
4. Further, the mother's blood should be tested for all infectious disease as required by the AABB, FACHT and state licensure.
    
5. In addition storing the cord blood in a multi-compartment bag will provide for the potential of more than one use when expansion technology becomes common place.
    
6. Long term storage should be in liquid nitrogen at regulated temperatures and the liquid nitrogen containers should be equipped with a 24 hour monitored alarm device, internal and external to the storage facility, and include a backup system. The labeling of samples should include an identifier code, mother's name, date of storage, and assigned inventory number. Finally, written standard operating procedures should be in place, for the proper identification of samples, and for collection, processing, storage and transplantation.