Cord Blood Transplantation

Read how Cord Blood Cells can be transplanted to treat several life threatening is an important decision facing most today's would be Parents...

A cord blood unit is the term used for the blood collected from the umbilical cord and placenta after a baby is born. Cord blood is rich in blood-forming cells that can be used in transplants for patients with leukemia, lymphoma and many other life-threatening diseases.

Cord blood is one of three sources of cells used in transplant; the other two are bone marrow and peripheral (circulating) blood (also called peripheral blood stem cell or PBSC transplants).  

When a patient needs a transplant for a life-threatening disease, his or her doctor considers many factors such as:

• Should the cells come from the patient (autologous transplant) or from a donor (allogeneic transplant)? The type of transplant used depends on which works best for that disease.
• Which cell source (bone marrow, peripheral blood, or cord blood) is best for the patient? Each source has advantages and disadvantages. 

Cord blood is especially useful for:

• Patients who need a transplant quickly, because cord blood units are stored and ready to use.
• Patients who have a hard time finding a matched bone marrow donor. Cord blood does not have to match a patient's tissue type as closely as donated bone marrow does.
• Patients from racially or ethnically diverse communities who often have uncommon tissue types. Because cord blood does not have to match the patient as closely as bone marrow does, it may offer more people from diverse racial and ethnic communities a second chance at life..