Umbilical cord blood collection is a short and simple operation, entirely safe for the health of both mother and child. Cord blood is the only source of stem cells from which the cells can be collected by non-invasive methods. Umbilical cord and placenta, with their very precious stem cells, have typically been discarded after delivery. Today, umbilical cord blood can be stored for dozens of years being constantly available for the purposes of medical treatment.

Stored stem cells are an invaluable treasure, which can save the life of your child or their siblings in the future. Cord blood is a rich source of blood-forming stem cells, which, like marrow stem cells, can be transplanted in order to facilitate regeneration of blood-forming and immune system. Cord blood stem cell transplants are more successful and beneficial than transplants of stem cells collected from an adult donor. Moreover, it has been shown that umbilical cord blood stem cells are more capable of proliferating, i.e. they can quickly grow into larger cultures after transplantation. This applies both to autologous (donor and recipient are the same person) and allogeneic (cells are collected from another organism) transplants.

Allogeneic transplants, which usually do not involve perfectly matched cells, can lead to a number of complications: transplanted cells can be rejected by the patient's organism or graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) can occur.

Graft-versus-host Disease develops when transplanted white blood cells of the donor recognise the host's cells as foreign and attack them. Results of numerous clinical trials indicate that there is less chance for GvHD following allogeneic cord blood transplantation than in the case of marrow cell transplant - the reason could be that white blood cells in umbilical cord blood are less developed and more naive.

Umbilical cord blood contains not only blood-forming stem cells that develop into various types of blood cells, but also mesenchymal stem cells, which give rise to a variety of cell types (neurons, bone cells, heart muscle and other muscle cells). This shows that cord blood transplantation can be used not only for treatment of types of cancer which require bone marrow transplants, but also for treatment of non-hematological diseases.

BLOOD-FORMING STEM CELL

  • Red blood cells - erythrocytes
  • Platelets - thrombocytes
  • White blood cells – leukocytes