Advantages of Cord Blood
Time Savings.
If you child’s cord blood has been stored, there is immediate availability of matching stem cells for your child, eliminating the need to search for a suitable bone marrow donor. If another family member becomes ill with a disease treatable with cord blood stem cells, there is also a chance your child’s sample may be a match for them as well. Early treatment of many diseases can help minimize disease progression and improve a patient’s overall chance for recovery.
Treatment Viability.
Cord blood stem cells have a better chance of being an acceptable match because they are immunologically immature and undeveloped, especially in comparison to other sources of adult stem cells such as bone marrow or peripheral blood. Not only do these cells have a better chance of being a match for siblings, but also for parents, grandparents, and other biological family members.
Decreased Risk.
Cord blood transplants have resulted in a significantly lower incidence of life-threatening side effects, such as graft vs. host disease, which occurs frequently in bone marrow transplants.
Ease of Collection.
Cord blood stem cells are collected via a non-invasive process that takes less than five minutes. Neither child nor mother can feel anything. Collection of adult stem cells from bone marrow or peripheral blood both require time consuming, invasive, and often painful procedures.