Cord Blood is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta following birth. Cord blood stem cells have the ability to treat the same diseases as bone marrow with significantly less rejection. Cord blood is collected after the baby is born and the umbilical cord has been clamped and cut. It is painless and safe. When cord blood is collected and stored, the stem cells are immediately available for transplantation. Children make up a large portion of the 10,000 individuals each year who are unable to find a transplant in time.
Years of medical research have led to an amazing discovery: the blood in a baby's umbilical cord. First used in transplant in 1988, umbilical cord blood is a plentiful and rich source of stem cells -the building blocks of the immune system- that can be used to treat a variety of life-threatening diseases including leukemia, other cancers, and blood and immune disorders. In just the last few years, hundreds of acutely ill patients have received treatment because of this tremendous medical advance.
Approximately 25% of these transplants have come from siblings, with the rest coming from donated cord blood samples. As more and more families save their cord blood, whether through donation or private storage, these numbers should increase dramatically. According to The Journal of the American Medical Association, "10,000 to 15,000 Americans each year who need a (bone marrow) transplant are unable to find suitable donors". Cord blood is an alternative transplant resource. As of the year 2000, more than 2,000 cord blood transplants have been performed worldwide.
