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December 3, 2004
An umbilical cord may save a life
There is a 15-minute window after a baby is born to collect stem
cells. That's when you need to make a choice.
SORIYA DANIELS
The women's weekly parenting class at our synagogue wasn't so lighthearted
today. Posted on the walls near the Sephardi sanctuary where our
class is held was the desperate plea of a mother for the life of
her 31-year-old daughter Tani, just diagnosed last week with "a
serious medical condition." It said that only a match from
a bone marrow donor could save her life. The flyer displayed photos
of a beautiful, young woman with four small children, including
one baby.
I wanted to help, but it was unclear from what was written, other
than "bone marrow fund," what they needed from the Jewish
community. I know that my husband and I registered our blood with
a national registry at a bone marrow and blood drive several years
back, so I figured that they must have exhausted the registry and
come up empty-handed.
At the bottom of the flyer was a phone number to call for more information.
This number put me in touch with Tani's mother, who revealed that,
to their surprise and utmost dismay, none of Tani's many sisters
were a match. I learned that there are 10 compatibility factors
that determine whether the transplant will be rejected by the host.
I remembered the photos of the children, pasted along the edges
of the flyer. Four children, four potential ideal matches for her.
It was just on an episode of Boston Legal recently –
a father with an incurable disease sought the cord blood of his
only child. It was his best chance for a match.
Tani's mother regretfully told me that her daughter never banked
any of her own children's blood.
"No one talked about cord blood when Tani had her children.
Who knew?" she sadly said.
Stem cell treatments
Researchers are finding a rich supply of stem cells in umbilical
cord blood for use in the treatment of a number of diseases like
leukemia and other blood and immune disorders. The stem cells found
in cord blood are as viable and flexible as those found in embryos,
can be easily collected without any ethical drawbacks and stored
indefinitely, and are easier to match to patients than those from
bone marrow. After they are thawed, even decades later, stem cells
can be used to treat a host of serious illnesses for mothers and
fathers, babies and possibly family members and to reconstitute
the blood or regulate the immune system. Since 1998, more than 3,000
cord blood stem cell transplants have been successfully performed,
worldwide, in the treatment of more than 40 life-threatening diseases.
Essentially, every parent faces the same three choices at birth
with regard to what they should do with their baby's cord blood:
public donation, banking or throwing it away. The latter choice
squanders a one-time opportunity to save something that could be
incredibly valuable and potentially life saving. The often-stated
adage "Ignorance is bliss" used to be applicable here.
It was for me, nearly three years ago, when I decided to throw away
my only child's cord blood. It was too expensive, I reasoned.
Families who choose to bank their child's cord blood stem cells
privately usually do so because they feel it offers them an extra
precaution, as they are a perfect match for the child from whom
they are collected. In the event these stem cells were needed, the
process of finding a matching donor and the risks of rejection are
eliminated.
The last option facing new parents is public donation, which can
possibly help a family in need. An initial $10 million appropriation
to establish a National Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank Network was recently
approved by the U.S. Senate. The groundbreaking legislation will
provide the resources necessary to collect an inventory of 150,000
cord blood stem cell units over five years. Prior to the legislation,
families wanting to donate cord blood to a public bank did not have
access to a facility that accepted donations.
"We have been highly supportive of the legislation and the
ability to increase our national supply of life-saving cord blood
samples," said Stephen Grant, Cord Blood Registry co-founder
and vice-president of communications.
Some benefits for Jews
Stem cell-rich cord blood also treats some Jewish genetic disorders,
such as Gaucher's disease, and is currently in trials for treatment
of type I diabetes and breast cancer. Viacord, one of the cord blood
banks, offers their services free of charge to any expectant family
with a biological sibling, mother or father with an established
diagnosis of a disease that is currently treatable with cord blood.
I won't lie to you, it's expensive. First-year costs range from
$950 US to $1,650 US, but that generally includes collection, blood
processing, initial freezing and licensing fees. Some companies
offer discounts for long-term storage or early registration and
most offer payment options. The fees after the first year, for continued
storage in liquid nitrogen, approximate $150 per year. There is
approximately a 15-minute window after a baby is born to collect
these cells, immediately after the umbilical cord is clamped and
cut. It is at that time that you'll make a choice that could be
a matter of life and death. Had Tani heard about cord blood banking
only two years ago, when her youngest child was born, those flyers
might not have been posted today.
Canadian cord options
The Alberta Cord Blood Bank is a nonprofit organization dedicated
to the collection and preservation of umbilical cord blood stem
cells for public use. These cells are used for transplantation in
individuals threatened by cancer, lethal congenital anemias and
other disorders that can be treated with bone marrow transplantation.
Although located in Alberta, the bank is national in scope and collects
donated waste umbilical cord blood samples from coast to coast in
Canada. Edmonton is the home of its founder, Dr. John J. Akabutu,
a professor of pediatrics at the University of Alberta. The faculty
of medicine there has achieved both national and international recognition
in research and for the quality of its graduates.
For more information, call the Alberta Cord Blood Bank at 780-492-2673
or e-mail [email protected].
Soriya Daniels is a Florida-based freelancer.
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