News

Oct 2015   Progenics Cord Blood Cryobank The birth of a child is a one-time opportunity to harvest from the umbilical cord blood those stem cells that can rebuild and replenish a patient's blood and immune systems, and provide regenerative therapy. Unlike stem cells that come from bone marrow or peripheral blood, it is not possible to return to the source if the stem cells are lost or damaged. Thus proper freezing (cryopreservation) and storage for future transplantation are of the utmost importance for cord blood cells.

Sep 2015   Matthew Farrow, then a 5 year old boy with Fanconi anemia, received the world's first cord blood transplant on 6 Oct. 1988. The pioneering medical event was an international effort: Matthew came from North Carolina USA, his donor was his newborn baby sister, the American scientist who stored the cord blood was Dr. Hal Broxmeyer, and the transplant was performed at the French Hôpital Saint-Louis in Paris, where his physician was Dr. Eliane Gluckman. Matt is now 32 years old, married, and a father.

Sep 2015   Childhood Cancer Awareness? What does it mean? There is not one commercial on TV during September letting us know that it is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. There are no ribbons on billboards or buildings. We do see commercials that pull at the heartstrings with kids and celebrities, asking us to give to hospitals. We give to research, but does that pay for families to get to and from treatments, and does it replace lost income? No.

Sep 2015   October is the anniversary of the first umbilical cord blood transplant and it marks an important opportunity to increase understanding among expectant parents and the public about cord blood options.

Aug 2015   We decided to start the Perinatal Stem Cell Society (PSCS) after we edited the book, Perinatal Stem Cells, Second Edition. We wanted to continue the momentum of the book and create a society where like-minded individuals could meet and collaborate to advance the perinatal stem cell field towards the clinic. Our goals for the society are embodied in our slogan: "Advancing perinatal stem cell research on the path toward treatment".

Aug 2015   Amir Hossein Rashidi is a 12-year old boy from Iran, Fars Province, Shiraz. He became sick with a disease known as leukemia (ALL type 2) since he was only 4 years old. He underwent chemotherapy for a couple of times, but each time the disease relapsed after a short while. To save his life, the experts reached to the consensus that a stem cell transplantation would be the only solution. Amir Hossein has two siblings whose bone marrow were not matched with him, while his younger brother, Amir Taha, was a perfect match. The matching baby brother had his cord blood saved in Royan Stem Cell Technology Company.

Aug 2015   A haploidentical transplant (haplo) is a half matched stem cell transplant from a family member. Haplo donors can be parents, children, siblings, and sometimes cousins of the patient. A biologic parent or a biologic child is always a half match to the patient, based on genetics. A haplo transplant can be used when there is no matched sibling or unrelated donor. Recently there has been an increase in the number of haplo transplants, particularly in Europe.

Jul 2015   ClinImmune, led by Brian Freed, PhD, has teamed up with CariCord, led by Calvin Cole. Launched in 2014, this partnership recognizes the growing number of evolving medical applications for both publicly donated and privately stored cord blood stem cells. Parents now have one cord blood bank that both accepts public donations, as well as provides family storage, and develops regenerative medicine therapies, all within a highly accredited and FDA licensed facility

Jul 2015   Since the passage of the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005, the U.S. federal government has subsidized a national network of public cord blood banks. With this support, the U.S. inventory of unrelated donor cord blood units has increased to over 200,000. These are available to any patient in any nation who needs an unrelated donor for a transplant of blood-forming (hematopoietic) stem cells.

Jul 2015   The most important factors in determining a successful stem cell transplant are human leukocyte antigen (HLA) match and number of living (viable) cells available for treatment. HLA is the finger print equivalent to see if the donor matches the patient. If they do not, then game over. However, if there is a good enough match, then 25 million total nucleated cells (TNC) per kg of bodyweight are required to give the patient the best chance of a successful stem cell transplant.