Today, cord blood stems cells are used in the treatment of nearly 80 diseases, including a wide range of cancers, genetic diseases, and blood disorders.2 In a cord blood transplant, stem cells are infused in to a patient’s bloodstream where they go to work healing and repairing damaged cells and tissue. When a transplant is successful, a healthy new immune system has been created.
There is often confusion over who can use cord blood stem cells in treatment — the baby they were collected from or a sibling? The short answer is both, but it very much depends on the condition being treated. And it's ultimately the treating physician's decision.
For your baby (autologous use)
When you bank your child’s cord blood with ViaCord, your child immediately becomes eligible for autologous treatments. Generally speaking, treatments for cancers like neuroblastoma are autologous. Also, phase II clinical trials for cerebral palsy and type 1 diabetes require one’s own cord blood to participate. To date, 40% of ViaCord units released for medical treatments and clinical trials have been used by the children from whom they were collected.13
For a sibling (allogeneic use)
Most of the diseases on the proven treatment list are inherited genetic diseases. Typically, these treatments require a donor transplant, as from a sibling. If your child needs a donor, a family member is always the first-choice source. In fact, research shows that treatments using cord blood from a family member are about twice as successful as treatments using cord blood from a non-relative.9a,17 To date, 60% of ViaCord units released have been used by siblings of the children from whom they were collected.
Increasing the odds
By banking all of your childrens’ cord blood with ViaCord, your family will have an easily accessible source of stem cells for potential therapeutic use.
Cord Blood Stem Cells: Current Uses
Cord blood stem cells can be used in the treatment of nearly 80 diseases listed below. This doesn’t mean they will be used and using them doesn’t guarantee success. Each case is unique and only a doctor can determine eligibility. To learn more about actual use, check out our Family Stories.
Cancers
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
Burkitt's lymphoma
Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)
Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML)
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
Hodgkin's lymphoma
Lymphomatoid granulomatosis
Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)
Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML)
Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes
Amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia
Autoimmune neutropenia (severe)
Congenital dyserythropoietic anemia
Cyclic neutropenia
Diamond-Blackfan anemia
Evan's syndrome
Fanconi anemia
Glanzmann's disease
Juvenile dermatomyositis
Kostmann's syndrome
Red cell aplasia
Shwachman syndrome
Severe aplastic anemia
Congenital sideroblastic anemia
Thrombocytopenia with absent radius (TAR syndrome)
Dyskeratosis congenita
Blood Disorders
Sickle-cell anemia (hemoglobin SS)
HbSC disease
Sickle βo Thalassemia
α-thalassemia major (hydrops fetalis)
β-thalassemia major (Cooley's anemia)
β-thalassemia intermedia
E-βo thalassemia
E-β+ thalassemia
Metabolic Disorders
Adrenoleukodystrophy Gaucher's disease (infantile)
Metachromatic leukodystrophy
Krabbe disease (globoid cell leukodystrophy)
Gunther disease
Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome
Hurler syndrome
Hurler-Scheie syndrome
Hunter syndrome
Sanfilippo syndrome
Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome
Mucolipidosis Type II, III
Alpha mannosidosis
Niemann Pick Syndrome, type A and B
Sandhoff Syndrome
Tay-Sachs Disease
Lesch-Nyhan disease
Immunodeficiencies
Ataxia telangiectasia
Chronic granulomatous disease
DiGeorge syndrome
IKK gamma deficiency
Immune dysregulation polyendocrineopathy
X-linked Mucolipidosis, Type II
Myelokathexis X-linked immunodeficiency
Severe combined immunodeficiency
Adenosine deaminase deficiency
Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome
X-linked agammaglobulinemia
X-linked lymphoproliferative disease
Omenn's syndrome
Reticular dysplasia
Thymic dysplasia
Leukocyte adhesion deficiency
Other
Osteopetrosis
Langerhans cell histiocytosis
Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis