Cord Blood Banking

Echloe · August 2011

Are any of you doing this? And if so which company? I'm having trouble choosing between ViaCord and CBR.

KozieKim · August 2011

Just to give you a bit of a heads up..the cord blood cant be used for the child it comes from-only for siblings etc. Something I never knew about b4 reading into it.

However, parents should know that a child's own cord blood (stored at birth), would rarely be suitable for a transplant today. It could not be used at present to treat genetic diseases, for example, because the cord blood stem cells carry the same affected genes and. if transplanted, would confer the same condition to the recipient. (See the story of Anthony Dones.) In addition, most transplant physicians would not use a child's own cord blood to treat leukemia. There are two reasons why the child?s own cord blood is not safe as a transplant source. First, in most cases of childhood leukemia, cells carrying the leukemic mutation are already present at birth and can be demonstrated in the cord blood. Thus, pre-leukemic cells may be given back with the transplant, since there is no effective way to remove them (purge) today. Second, in a child with leukemia, the immune system has already failed to prevent leukemia. Since cord blood from the same child re-establishes the child's own immune system, doctors fear it would have a poor anti-leukemia effect.

The odds of finding a suitably-matched, publicly-donated, unrelated cord blood unit are already quite high and continue to improve as inventories of public cord blood banks grow.

For these and other reasons, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and many physicians do not recommend private cord blood banking except as ?directed donations? in cases where a family member already has a current need or a very high potential risk of needing a bone marrow transplant. In all other cases, the AAP has declared the use of cord blood as "biological insurance" to be "unwise."

weddingbells2010 · August 2011

We've decided not to do it because we just can't afford it, but at our birthing class yesterday the instructor said to ask your OB or pediatrician about it if you're having a hard time choosing between companies. Ultimately she said they are all basically the same and if you can't afford the 'high end' company, the cheaper ones are doing the same job. She did also point out that many doctors are now charging fees to harvest the cord blood for the kit, so ask about that beforehand too so you're not surprised.

Liz4444 · August 2011

We chose CBR because they also give you the option of saving the actual cord so that you have tissue as well. It doubles the cost, but we are banking both.

We asked Drs but they won't really give you an answer, they just tell you to go on each company's website...

Floyd.B · August 2011

Have you looked into MiracleCord?

we used them before and are doing it again this time. they also give you the option to save the tissue and are more economical. I really enjoyed working with them.

jpeazybreezy · August 2011

I understand that you're looking to do private, but have already considered public? A friend of mine who had her LO in May said that they found a match for her cord blood while they were still in the hospital. Just something to mull over if you haven't already.

Ceridwen21 · August 2011

jpeazybreezy:
I understand that you're looking to do private, but have already considered public? A friend of mine who had her LO in May said that they found a match for her cord blood while they were still in the hospital. Just something to mull over if you haven't already.

Wow, that's amazing!

Echloe · August 2011

Floyd.B:
Have you looked into MiracleCord?
we used them before and are doing it again this time. they also give you the option to save the tissue and are more economical. I really enjoyed working with them.

No. I'll look into this one. Thanks.

ellewoodsSC · August 2011

I'd love to donate, but apparently there's very few facilities across the country that facilitate donation. The PP made some great points about why cord blood banking has very limited potential for actual use. Let me add another one. If you're going to do it, go with the best reputable company you can afford. In this economy and uncertainty, there was a local registry bank that went into bankruptcy and left customers stranded, with no way to contact anybody or ascertain that their stored blood was protected and still viable or transfer the samples. I feel for those people.

weddingbells2010 · August 2011

jpeazybreezy:
I understand that you're looking to do private, but have already considered public? A friend of mine who had her LO in May said that they found a match for her cord blood while they were still in the hospital. Just something to mull over if you haven't already.

I actually wanted to do public donation because, if I can't afford to do it privately and benefit from it, at least someone else might. However I found out that the hospital we are delivering out of does not facilitate the harvesting of cordblood for public donation. I plan to ask why at our next tour session (it's a two part-er).

KnoxBride06 · August 2011

KozieKim:

Just to give you a bit of a heads up..the cord blood cant be used for the child it comes from-only for siblings etc. Something I never knew about b4 reading into it.

However, parents should know that a child's own cord blood (stored at birth), would rarely be suitable for a transplant today. It could not be used at present to treat genetic diseases, for example, because the cord blood stem cells carry the same affected genes and. if transplanted, would confer the same condition to the recipient. (See the story of Anthony Dones.) In addition, most transplant physicians would not use a child's own cord blood to treat leukemia. There are two reasons why the child?s own cord blood is not safe as a transplant source. First, in most cases of childhood leukemia, cells carrying the leukemic mutation are already present at birth and can be demonstrated in the cord blood. Thus, pre-leukemic cells may be given back with the transplant, since there is no effective way to remove them (purge) today. Second, in a child with leukemia, the immune system has already failed to prevent leukemia. Since cord blood from the same child re-establishes the child's own immune system, doctors fear it would have a poor anti-leukemia effect.

The odds of finding a suitably-matched, publicly-donated, unrelated cord blood unit are already quite high and continue to improve as inventories of public cord blood banks grow.

For these and other reasons, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and many physicians do not recommend private cord blood banking except as ?directed donations? in cases where a family member already has a current need or a very high potential risk of needing a bone marrow transplant. In all other cases, the AAP has declared the use of cord blood as "biological insurance" to be "unwise."

Really? I was told by CBR that it could be used for the baby, myself or any future children (just not DH). Not arguing, just curious as to why I was told something else.

mlstagner · August 2011

My doctor recommended one of the larger companies (ViaCord, CBR) over a smaller company if we were going to bank (we are not). He said that there are a lot of companies popping up that are charging lower fees, but if something should happen, and that smaller company goes under, your cord blood goes with it. You would not be able to transfer your cord blood to another company if the company you have banked with goes under.

We are opting to donate.

KozieKim · August 2011

I cant recall who told me to look into its viability but thats when I found the articles about it only really being beneficial to close family members and not the donor him/herself. We were planning on publicly donating our twins blood but they dont accept donations from multiple births either. If you Google "cord blood banking pros and cons" you will get a lot of info on the subject. I still believe in public donation of the blood though. If I could afford it I would bank the blood for family members too but thats not in our budget.

StephK · August 2011

KnoxBride06:
KozieKim:

Just to give you a bit of a heads up..the cord blood cant be used for the child it comes from-only for siblings etc. Something I never knew about b4 reading into it.

Really? I was told by CBR that it could be used for the baby, myself or any future children (just not DH). Not arguing, just curious as to why I was told something else.

Cut out the C&P info since my post will be long, too:

Just to have the other side - here's that info from CBR. A transplant to your baby from its own cord blood is called an autologous transplant. If you read the link below (I'll copy in some of the info - bolded the most important parts), it is correct that autologous transplant isn't appropriate for certain genetic diseases and certain cancers, but it has usefulness and has been used in transplants for other cancers and is being used in experimental trials (more info through Viacord), as I recall. I think those are being done with brain injury, diabetes and cerebral palsy, but I don't have their literature in front of me.

I am a scientist, though I don't work in the lab these days. We'd look into public donation, but we are not a candidate and my hospital does not collect for public banking. Personally, we're leaning towards Viacord over CBR. Perkin Elmer is a VERY well funded company and Viacord is part of Perkin Elmer. Their information regarding their ongoing research was also much more impressive. In addition, Viacord has the ability to expand the original cord blood sample to make enough (potentially) for an adult transplant.

https://www.cordblood.com/cord_blood_banking_with_cbr/common_misconceptions/index.asp

Fact: There are certain medical conditions that would not use autologous stem cells (one's own stem cells):
Genetic Diseases: A situation in which a child may not be able to use his or her own cord blood stem cells is in genetic diseases, such as sickle cell anemia. If the child has a genetic disease, the cells are not useful in transplantation or regenerative medicine. The only potential therapy using autologous cells in a child with a genetic disease is called gene therapy - using the stem cells to deliver the corrective genetic elements. Gene therapy is still experimental.
Certain Cancers: In addition, doctors may not choose autologous stem cells for treatment of certain forms of leukemia in earlier years of life, due to the concern that such an early onset may indicate a genetic component. However, if there is a cancer that occurs later in life, the autologous cord blood stem cells would likely be preferable to autologous adult cells collected during remission from leukemia, where there exists the risk of residual tumor cells, MRD (minimal residual disease) which can cause relapse.
In cases in which autologous stem cells cannot be used, a sibling's cord blood is the next best option, which is one of the key reasons why it is important to bank cord blood for all children in the family.

Autologous Use:
Thousands of autologous stem cell transplants - those using one's own stem cells - are performed every year.

Autologous transplants are performed for diseases such as: Hodgkin's disease, Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, myeloma, Ewing's sarcoma, neuroblastoma, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, brain tumors, and other solid tumors.
Research from the Journal of Clinical Oncology reports that even with early-onset disease (within 12 months of birth), the child's stem cells are viable for use in transplantation. In the study, an autologous stem cell treatment for infants with acute leukemia was just as successful as a sibling transplant
Autologous cord blood stem cells have many advantages as a transplant source, including no risk of graft vs. host disease (a leading cause of death for transplant patients), immediate availability, and low risk of the cells being contaminated by disease.

New treatments with cord blood focus on regenerative medicine - where doctors use stem cells to repair damaged tissues and organs in the body. Cord blood stem cells are showing significant potential to treat conditions that have no cure today - like juvenile diabetes and brain injury. For regenerative medicine applications, the child's own cord blood is required.

With the increasing focus on regenerative medicine, it becomes more likely that a child would use his or her own stem cells in the future. The National Academy of Sciences estimates that as many as 1 in 3 individuals in the U.S. (or 128 million people) could benefit from applications of regenerative medicine.

Floyd.B · August 2011

mlstagner:
My doctor recommended one of the larger companies (ViaCord, CBR) over a smaller company if we were going to bank (we are not). He said that there are a lot of companies popping up that are charging lower fees, but if something should happen, and that smaller company goes under, your cord blood goes with it. You would not be able to transfer your cord blood to another company if the company you have banked with goes under.

We are opting to donate.

The company I posted about sends your cord blood to a third party lab. it is safe and sound there.

karinothing · August 2011

I don't plan on doing it becuase we are doing delayed cord clamping so there will be no blood left over to donate or bank.

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