Understanding Cord Blood Banking

Applications of Stem Cells

Once your child's cord blood stem cells are banked, they are readily available at any time if your child or someone else requires them in the future. For certain cancers, including leukemia, stem cells can potentially save the life of a child, eliminating the need to find donors for bone marrow transplant and eliminating the risk of donor graft rejection. It is often difficult or even impossible to find a matching bone marrow donor, especially for ethnic minorities.

Over 50 cancers and genetic diseases are treated using stem cell therapy:

• Leukemia
• Liposarcoma
• Hodgkin's disease
• Aplastic anemia
• Fanconi anemia
• Sickle-cell anemia
• Gunther disease
• Hunter syndrome
• Severe combined immune deficiency
• Osteopetrosis

At times when rapid treatment is important, having stem cells which are a perfect match to your child readily available can potentially save a life. Furthermore, your child's own cord blood stem cells are a perfect match to your child, thus eliminating the risk of graft versus host disease, a deadly disease which may occur when a child is transplanted with bone marrow from another donor. In addition to being a perfect match for your child, your child's stem cells may also be useful for other members of your family, including siblings, parents, and even grandparents as there is a greater chance of a match between your child's stem cells and his/her own family members.

Umbilical cord blood stem cells can only be harvested once in the lifetime of a child, and that is at the time of birth. Once the stem cells are harvested, Healthcord processes them and banks them for long term storage under cryogenic conditions. These cells are then readily available for your use. Whenever the cells are needed, they will be readily available.