News

Oct 2014   A suitable cord blood match (HLA match of 4 out of 6 or better) is available from Be The Match for nearly every US patient under age 20 and for more than 80% of patients age 20 and over, regardless of racial or ethnic background. The challenge at this point is how best to apply the limited resources of the Be The Match organization to find matches for the remaining patients, who are predominantly ethnic minorities and mixed race individuals.

Oct 2014   Canada has the most ethnically diverse population in all of the Group of Eight (G-8) leading industrialised countries (1). Over 20% of Canada's population is foreign-born, with representation from almost 200 countries. Among those who arrived since 2001, almost 60% are from Asia (including the Middle East). Currently, 20% of the population identify themselves as members of a visible minority, which accounts for over 6 million people. The median age of this group, 33.4 years, is within the child-bearing years.

Sep 2014   Cord blood banking can preserve viable stem cells for decades if the cryogenic nitrogen tanks are maintained at a constant very low temperature.

Sep 2014   Adriana was born in Italy in 2009 after an in vitro fertilization and her parents were finally achieving the dream of their lives. Everything appeared to be fine with the pregnancy until the last moment when the mother started to feel contractions and ran to the clinic. She had forgotten to bring the kit for storing cord blood stem cells, but luckily Francesco from SmartBank reached them at the clinic right on time.

Sep 2014   Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have made an important step towards greater availability of hand transplants, face transplants and other transplants involving multiple types of tissue, and stem cells play an important role. Hand, face and soft tissue transplants are collectively known as vascularized composite allografts, or VCAs. A VCA transplant is one that involves transplantation of multiple tissue types: muscle, bone, nerves and skin. They are most frequently used to replace amputated hands and arms, and to repair severe facial injuries.

Aug 2014   Americord Registry, a leading cord blood banking company based in New York City, has made major strides in addressing one of the major limitations of cord blood banking: the relatively low volume of stem cells that are typically collected from cord blood. A typical cord blood collection generally harvests enough stem cells to treat a patient who weighs up to 65 pounds. This volume of stem cells may be used to treat a patient over 65 pounds as a last resort, but these transplants have a much lower success rate than transplants containing an appropriate number of stem cells.

Aug 2014   Nevelash brought cheer to his parents' life when he was born two years ago. Basically an Indian family, Nevelash's parents were settled in Malaysia, earning their daily bread by working for laborer's wages.

Jul 2014   The latest Duke clinical trial explores the therapeutic potential of cord blood for autism. In recent years the number of children with autism has been rising.

Jul 2014   Umbilical cord blood has been identified as a rich source of blood-forming stem cells that can be used to restore normal blood development following blood stem cell transplantation. In particular, umbilical cord blood is most commonly used in pediatric patients undergoing blood stem cell transplantation for blood cancers such as leukemia and for the treatment of rare inherited metabolic disorders.

Jun 2014   Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is an inherited disease of red blood cells caused by a gene mutation involving a single amino acid substitution in the hemoglobin gene. The red blood cells become sickle shaped (see figure below) under stress conditions, leading the cells to stick together and block tiny blood vessels. This can cause pain crises, stroke, and chronic progressive organ damage.