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Cord Blood Stem Cells: What’s Next?

By David T. Harris, Ph.D.
January 27, 2007
Health News Digest

(HealthNewsDigest.com) Ten years ago, cord blood stem cells were not a focus of conversation outside of the scientific community. But we’ve come a long way – cord blood stem cells are a hot topic today.

I was one of the first researchers in the United States to bank cord blood stem cells – and I did so with my first child, Alex, in my lab at the University of Arizona in 1992. I hope he never needs his cells; but my scientific experience says he will. Based on my research on the therapeutic applications of cord blood stem cells for regenerative medicine, I estimate that one out of every five newborns whose cord blood stem cells are banked today will need those cells at some point in his or her lifetime. I firmly believe that cord blood stem cells will change the way physicians practice medicine.

Already proven to regenerate blood and immune cells, cord blood stem cells have been used for more than 15 years as a treatment for many cancers and blood disorders, including leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia, and aplastic anemia. To date, cord blood stem cells have been used in more than 10,000 transplants worldwide. Research also shows incredible potential for cord blood stem cells to someday treat chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease.

Despite the proven utility of these cells, the cord blood from nine out of every 10 newborns in this country is disposed of as medical waste. This is a public health tragedy. The good news is that the Institute of Medicine reported last year to Congress that expectant parents should receive fair and balanced education on all of their cord blood banking options. In following with this federal recommendation, legislators in more than nine states have begun to pass bills encouraging education.

No one today can definitely predict how many diseases may someday be treated by cord blood stem cells. But, we are entering a new frontier -- regenerative medicine. This evolving field of research involves the application of stem cells to rebuild damaged tissues, or grow living tissues in a laboratory, for implantation into the patient. Cord blood stem cells have been “triggered” to differentiate into neural cells, showing that they may have the potential to treat diseases including Parkinson’s and cerebral palsy.

The cord blood laboratory I started is now the leading family cord blood bank in the world, Cord Blood Registry (CBR). CBR has preserved the cord blood from more than 180,000 newborns throughout the world. CBR is the first family bank to be accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks and has released 45 cord blood samples for use in transplant and regenerative medicine cases, more than any other family cord blood bank.

CBR has long been a leader in technology innovation within the cord blood stem cell banking industry. I believe that the company’s investments and innovations in new cord blood collection, processing, and storage technology are the most significant advances in the industry. CBR has the industry’s highest published cell recovery rates and the lowest published contamination rates. And, in January 2007, CBR became the first and only family bank to launch a state-of-the-art automated processing system, AutoXpress™ (AXP). Coupled with CBR’s proprietary collection kits and storage technology, CBR continues to ensure the highest quality processing and storage with even greater efficiency. AXP is an automated, functionally-closed, sterile system which robotically captures the portion of blood that contains the highest percentage of stem cells.

Why is this significant?

If Congress and state departments of public health are successful, more and more women will be better informed about cord blood banking -- and perhaps less willing to dispose of their baby’s cord blood as medical waste. With great demand, comes greater need for consistency.

With AXP, CBR will be able to ensure every expectant parent the same level of processing and storage.

As the scientific director of CBR, I look forward to continuing to bring new technologies and processes forward, as well as watching new research in areas like regenerative medicine emerge.

ThermoGenesis©,Autoxpress™ , and AXP™ are registered trademarks of ThermoGenisis Corp., Sepax is a registered trademark of Biosafe SA. Viacord is a registered trademark of ViaCell,Inc

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