By: Mitchell S. Cairo, MD, FAAP & Allyson Flower, MD
Many parents have questions about umbilical cord blood banking and donation.
The American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement, “Cord Blood Banking for Potential Future Transplantation” calls for renewed emphasis and education about the advantages and need for public cord blood banking.
Stem Cell Transplants
A stem cell transplant can be used to treat children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases including metabolic, immune, and blood disorders. As more newborns are screened for potentially fatal diseases, the number of stem cell transplants has increased as well. Using cord blood for stem cell transplants instead of bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells is less invasive and expands the number of possible donors. The primary purpose of storing cord blood is so that a child with a potentially fatal disease can receive the banked cord blood from an unrelated matched donor.
Other uses of stored cord blood include:
- Directed donation: When a child with a known disorder has a matched sibling donor. Upon delivery, the newborn sibling’s cord blood can be stored and later used for a stem cell transplant.
- Personal use: The use of a child’s own banked cord blood is limited. For example, if a child develops leukemia, that child’s stored cord blood will likely have the potential to progress to leukemia and cannot be used. Although the future use of a child’s own banked cord blood for regenerative purposes in some chronic diseases is promising, further research is needed.
Public vs. Private Banking
There is a difference between public cord blood banks and private, for-profit cord blood banks.
Public cord blood banking is preferred, here’s why:
- Frequency of use:Cord blood from public blood banks is used more often than privately banked cord blood. Thirty times more publicly banked cord blood units are used for transplants compared to privately banked cord blood.
- Quality:Collection, evaluation and preservation of publicly banked cord blood is highly regulated by accrediting institutions such as the NetCord/Foundation for Accreditation of Cell Therapy, the FACT/Joint Accreditation Committee, and the American Association of Blood Banks. Private cord blood banks may or may not choose to meet these standards. This is why publicly stored cord blood has been shown to be of higher quality—increasing the potential for a successful stem cell transplant. Parents who are thinking about private cord blood banking are encouraged to ask these facilities about accreditation, costs, failure rates of their stored cord blood to achieve successful transplantation, and method of backup electrical systems in case of storage equipment failure. Conflicts of interest and financial disclosures should be provided.
Last Updated 10/30/2017
Source Section on Hematology/Oncology (SOHO) (Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Pediatrics)
The information contained on this Web site should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstance
