Five things to know about umbilical cord blood transplants and donations
You may know that doctors have for decades treated diseases like leukemia – a common childhood cancer – with bone marrow transplants. But did you know that umbilical cord blood has the same life-saving potential? And it’s simple and safe to donate.
Blood is collected from the umbilical cord after a baby is born and the cord separated. From there, it’s stored in a public cord blood bank, tested, and uploaded to a national registry, where it waits for a patient who is a good match. If you’re pregnant and interested in donating your cord blood, it’s as easy as telling your care team so they can collect it after birth.
To learn more about the donation process and unique benefits of cord blood, we spoke with M Health Fairview Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Physician Troy Lund, MD, PhD. Read on for five key things to know about umbilical cord blood and how it is used to save lives.
Cord blood and bone marrow transplants treat many of the same conditions.
Like bone marrow, umbilical cord blood is rich in hematopoietic stem cells – stem cells that go on to create new blood cells. During a bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant, healthy stem cells are taken from a donor and given to someone who has cancer or another disease requiring a transplant. Once implanted, these healthy cells multiply and go to work creating new, healthy blood in the recipient. Transplant recipients receive chemotherapy before the procedure to wipe out the cancerous or unhealthy cells and make space for replacement healthy cells.
“We can use cord blood to treat virtually all of the same diseases where we use bone marrow,” said Lund. “These include leukemia, lymphoma, immune deficiency, aplastic anemia, sickle cell disease, and rare metabolic storage diseases like adrenoleukodystrophy.”
While bone marrow transplants have been around a lot longer, scientists discovered that umbilical cord blood contains equally powerful blood-forming cells. Cord blood also helps a patient rebuild their immune system after the procedure. The first human cord blood transplant was performed in 1988. Since then, researchers, physicians, and advocacy groups have been working to raise awareness about cord blood donation nationwide.
