The cord blood transplants possible each year to save the lives of many patients with serious blood diseases like leukemia.
Cord blood is collected from the placenta and the umbilical cord immediately after birth. It has the characteristic of being rich in hematopoietic stem cells, which are also found in the bone marrow. These cells can form various blood cells.
The collection is safe for either the child or for his mother. The cord blood is collected and analyzed. If it meets the predefined criteria, it can become a graft of hematopoietic stem cells, designed to treat patients with serious blood diseases. Each graft is then frozen and stored in a cord blood bank service permitted. It will then be used if it proves sufficiently compatible with a patient who needs a transplant.
In most cases, it is only the absence of a fully compatible donor bone marrow that are moving towards a cord blood transplant.
The bioethics law changed July 7th, 2011 established the principle of using allogeneic hematopoietic cells from cord blood and placental blood cells and cord blood and placental cells and cord and placenta. It refers specifically to the anonymous nature of these gifts. Moreover, permission is required for institutions who want to prepare, store, distribute and sell cord blood and placental blood. Similarly, institutions that wish to collect cells for autologous, that is to say for himself or his own child, must ask for permission.
The particular interest of a cord blood transplant.
The use of cord blood transplant, rather than bone marrow, increasing year by year.
When a patient needs a transplant of hematopoietic stem cells (which give rise to blood cells), the transplant physician research primarily a compatible bone marrow donor among the siblings.
In the absence of donor within the same family, it queries the registry of volunteer bone marrow donors in Biomedicine Agency. If no suitable donor is identified in the register, a cord blood transplant may be considered in certain situations.
In 2008, cord blood transplants accounted for 22.5% of all hematopoietic stem cell transplants performed. The use of cord blood was initially limited to children. It is now possible to transplant an adult with a double amount of cells (two units of blood).
