Umbilical cord blood saves lives
Print Edition
THE storage of newborn baby’s umbilical cord blood has been available in Shanghai since 2006, when the city’s only cord blood bank was established.
Doctors now consult with couples if they want to keep their baby’s cord blood or donate it.
Umbilical cord blood is obtained by syringing out the placenta through the umbilical cord at the time of birth after it has been detached from the newborn.
There is no harm to either mother or baby during the procedure.
Cord blood is collected and stored because it can be used like bone marrow.
The key in both are stem cells. However, stem cells from umbilical cord blood are better because they are less mature than those in adult bone marrow, less prone to rejection by the recipient and more active in developing into different types of cells.
Stem cells have been used in the treatment of many diseases including leukemia, lymphoma and anemia. The most common disease category is leukemia.
About 40,000 to 50,000 Chinese are diagnosed with leukemia every year, half of them children. Nearly 3,000 patients are able to receive a stem cell transplant, among them only about 1,000 are from adult donors. The chances of finding a matching donor for a patient is 50 to 100 times higher with umbilical cord blood.
The Shanghai Cord Blood Bank has had more than 25,000 donated samples for public use, accounting for over half of the country’s total.
A similar quantity of samples have been stored at the request of parents for family use.
“The Shanghai Cord Blood Bank has a 100 percent match record for Chinese patients if they search in the bank, which thus far has offered samples to 800 patients with leukemia and immunity diseases,” said Gao Feng, director of the Shanghai Cord Blood Bank. He is also a member of an expert panel on cord blood under the National Health and Family Planning Commission.
An 18-year-old girl with leukemia received a cord blood transplant at the age of 10, and is believed to be the longest-surviving leukemia patient to have undergone an umbilical cord blood transplant in Shanghai.
Unable to find a matching sample at an adult bone marrow bank, Zhang Jiani found a sample donated by the parents of a boy named Xu Xijun. Zhang received the transplant in April 2006. Anti-rejection therapy was stopped in early 2007.
In addition to leukemia, stem cells are also considered a therapy to immunity diseases and a promising form of treatment for other diseases like diabetes and cancer, as well as spinal and heart injuries.
The high matching rate and possible wide usage of umbilical cord blood for the baby and other family members in the future provide a strong case for pregnant women to keep their newborns' umbilical cord blood.
Some foreign couples have also stored their baby’s cord blood in the bank including Jorge Dajani Gonzalez, former trade commissioner of Spain in Shanghai. He stored his baby’s umbilical cord blood at the bank in 2008.
Rupert Hoogewerf, known for his Chinese name Hu Run and the publisher of the Hurun Report, a magazine best known for its “China Rich List,” also stored his baby’s cord blood at the bank.
The bank gives parents three options.
Parents can simply donate the cord blood, store the blood for private use or store it for private use while opening it to searches by other patients.
The bank stores cord blood donated for public use at no charge.
For private use, the bank charges 5,800 yuan (US$935) for the collection, processing and testing of blood. There is an additional 1,200 yuan fee per year for storage.
Families who choose to store the blood for personal use but allow it to show up in search results will be asked whether they are willing to donate the cord blood if it matches a patient. If they refuse, no details will be released. If they agree, parents can recoup all collection, processing, testing and storage fees.
Officials from the cord blood bank said this was to make full use of umbilical cord blood supplies and help more patients.
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