September, 2023 - Banking Umbilical Cord Blood

Stem Cell Storage Cost Australia

Stem cell banking has certainly started to gather momentum in many countries including Australia. An increasing number of parents who are expecting a baby in the near future are researching their options and finding out all they can about the procedure and what it could mean for the future. They also want to know about the procedure itself and importantly, the stem cell storage cost Australia.

Stem Cell Storage Cost Australia

Here we bring you all the important information…

What is stem cell storage?

The blood found in the umbilical cord which joins a pregnant woman and her unborn baby is very precious as it is rich in haematopoietic stem cells.

These stem cells are capable of developing into different types of blood cells. These cells are found in organs such as the heart, bone and muscle. Stem cells can also develop into nerve cells.

This ability means that the stem cells can be transplanted to help effectively treat more than 70 different serious illnesses.

‘Cord blood’ is the name given to the blood that is found in the umbilical cord. Until recently, after the delivery of the baby, the umbilical cord was clamped and cut, and the cord was discarded. However, scientists have found that the cord blood can be collected and frozen for future use.

The blood is stored in a private blood bank in case the baby or their siblings should need a stem cell transplant in the future. Cord blood can also be donated to a public blood bank to help treat other children and adults.

Why consider stem cell storage?

Banking cord blood is like an insurance for your baby and their siblings. If any of them need a stem cell transplant in the future to fight a potentially fatal illness the cord blood can be used.

The blood will be a perfect match for the baby whose cord blood has been stored. In addition, it will be a good enough match for the blood to be transplanted to their siblings.

The stem cells can be transplanted to effectively treat a range of serious illnesses including some cancers.

Recently, babies have received transplants of their own cord blood –

‘In clinical trials to develop therapies for cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus (fluid in the brain), oxygen deprivation at birth, traumatic brain injury, sensorineural hearing loss and Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. Research is still needed before these therapies are accepted and implemented’.

It is well worth considering stem cell banking if a particular illness does run in your family that can be treated with a stem cell transplant.

These include some cancers and immune deficiency diseases where your family is at greater risk than the general population. Some parents find private blood banking reassuring – particularly if they have several children or plan to add to their family.

Banking cord blood can also be beneficial if the mother has a history of complications in pregnancy that could cause premature birth.

Babies born prematurely sometimes develop health problems. Scientists are currently researching how the child’s own cord blood can be successfully used to treat them.

How is the cord blood collected?

If a couple decides that they would like the cord blood from their baby collected, it is essential that they organise this in advance of their baby’s birth.

Whether they want to have the cord blood stored in a private blood bank or donated to a public blood bank, this must be arranged in advance. Not all hospitals have the facilities to collect cord blood.

Once the baby has been delivered, the doctor/ midwife clamps the umbilical cord in two places – about 25cm apart. This procedure separates the baby from their mother. It is completely safe and pain-free.

In the past, at this stage, the umbilical cord- along with the placenta – would be discarded. After the cut section of umbilical cord is removed, a needle is inserted into the cord and the stem blood is quickly collected. The amount of stem blood collected is about 45 millilitres.

Nicola Madigan on the newborn baby website describes the final stage –

‘It’s easy to arrange your cord blood and tissue collection. Once signed up you will be sent a collection kit that you take to the hospital. At the time of birth, your Cell Care Collector or Obstetrician will collect the cord blood and tissue. The collection process takes about 5 minutes and is painless to mother and baby’.

Once collected, the blood and tissue are then couriered to a specialised laboratory and storage facility. At the laboratory, the plasma is removed and the remaining cells, including stem cells, are cryogenic ally stored at -196 C’.

What are the risks involved?

Collecting cord blood is completely safe and pain-free. It usually takes less than ten minutes.

Stem cell storage cost Australia – What are the costs?

Private stem cell storage cost Australia is reasonable when compared to storage costs in USA.

For a fee, one of the Australian private cord blood banks will collect, process, freeze and store cell-rich umbilical cord blood for future medical use.

The Australian cord-blood storage companies charge on average about $3,000 to store one unit of cord blood for a period of 18 years.

Stemlife is one of the Australian cord blood storage companies. It says cord blood storage provides-

“a safe, ethical and affordable solution to those parents who want to take advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity”.

As cord-blood storage is not cheap, the private cord blood banks do offer a variety of payment plans as well as discounts on pre-paid plans.

According to babycenter.com.au, there is the opportunity to pay interest-free instalments over a few months. Alternatively, there is the option for a longer repayment plan with a monthly payment of $145 a month, spread over two years, which will come to a total cost of about $3,500.

Another option is to –

‘You can also pay a first-year processing fee that ranges from about $1,750 to $2,780. Following this payment, you would then pay an annual storage cost of about $100 to $175 for each year you choose to continue storage’.

As well as stem cell storage, there is the opportunity to store cord tissue as well as blood and there is an extra cost for this.

Who to contact to find out more –

With time on your side, it is well worth starting to research whether your local hospital can collect cord blood and whether it can be transferred to your chosen private blood bank.

This website provides guidance on how to choose the right private blood bank for you.

Final Thoughts – Stem cell storage cost Australia

Stem cell banking is gaining momentum in Australia, prompting expectant parents to research the procedure and its potential benefits. An important aspect of this exploration is understanding the stem cell collection procedure and the associated stem cell storage cost Australia.

Why Banking Cord Blood for Siblings Matters (Pros and Cons)

Trevor Benefits of Saving Cord Blood, Stem Cell Collection at Birth September 16, 2023September 16, 2023cord blood for siblings, siblings

Blood from the umbilical cord from one child is the potential life saving treatment for their siblings. The first cord blood stem cell transplant was in 1988 when one sibling received stem cells from the other to treat their Fanconi Anaemia. Since then, there has been much research worldwide to establish the effectiveness of using stems cells from the cord blood for siblings.

Researchers believe that the stem cells can successfully treat more than 80 serious illnesses such as sickle cell anaemia and leukaemia.

The outlook is very optimistic. Siblings are genetically close and banking the cord blood from one sibling will be a 100% match for themselves in the future and up to a 75% match for their sibling.

Cord Blood For Siblings

When can cord blood really make the difference?

Cord blood has many bonuses including the fact that it rarely contains any infectious diseases. Also it is much more likely to be accepted by the recipient’s body than adult stem cells plus –

‘ The fluid is easy to collect and has 10 times more stem cells than those collected from bone marrow.’

There are a number of medical conditions that can be successfully treated with stem cells, but It is critical that the stem cells used are a close match.

The stem cells are infused into the patient’s bloodstream, where they change into the necessary cells to boost the body’s immune system. This is so that it can effectively fight the disease and repair or replace any badly damaged cells so that the patient recovers.

For stem cells in the umbilical cord blood to be compatible it must contain certain proteins (genes). These are called called HLA markers (Human Leukocyte Antigens).

These HLAs are passed on genetically by a baby’s parents, with half the genes being inherited from the mother and the other half, from the father.

A good genetic match is essential if the stem cells are going to be accepted by the recipient body’s immune system.

Using the stem cells donated by a sibling is ideal because genetically the match between siblings is the closest. Whilst a perfect match is the most ideal situation, some stem cell treatments can be successful even if there is not a 100% match.

Are there any problems using cord blood of siblings?

While siblings’ blood offers a much better chance of being a close match, the children must be ‘whole’ brothers and sisters and not ‘half’ as this reduces the chance of a good match.

Whole siblings have a 25% that they will be a complete match and a 50% chance of being a 50% match. Interestingly, they also have a 25% chance that they do not match at all.

When can cord blood be used for siblings?

Stem cells from cord blood can be used for the newborn baby or their siblings. Some serious illnesses can only be treated with the child’s own cord blood. This is known as ‘autologus’. Other illnesses need to be treated with the stem cells from the cord blood of a sibling which is called ‘allogenic’.

The range of conditions that can be treated allogenically include leukaemia and lymphoma and cancers.

There is a third type of transplant which is known as a ‘Haploidentical transplant’. This type of transplant is becoming very common because for it to be successful, there only needs to be a 50% match between donor and recipient. Thus making it possible for the donor to be a parent, child or sibling.

Cord blood is just one of three sources of blood-forming stem cells that surgeons use in transplants. Bone marrow is also used and ‘peripheral’ blood, which is blood that circulates throughout the body.

Cord blood for siblings is favoured because it carries a much lower chance of developing GVHD – graft-versus-host disease. The Miracle Cord website explains that this is a very serious condition that occurs when the healthy cells in the donor tissue attack the immunocompromised cells in the body of the recipient.

If this occurs, there is nearly 50% chance that the patient will die. Miracle Cord also quotes the important statistic that children having a transplant using blood matched from a sibling have less than a 10% chance of developing GVHD.

Is it still best to bank cord blood for each of my children?

It is important to consider banking cord blood for each of your children, especially if your family has a history of any medical conditions that can be successfully treated with stem blood cells.

The reason for this is that there is the chance that your children – even if they are full brothers and sisters – may not be good matches.

Although banking cord blood for siblings is not cheap, it will definitely give you the peace of mind that you are safeguarding each of your children against more that 80 known serious medical conditions that can be treated by an infusion of cord blood stem cells.

Miracle cord explains how the chances of a good match increase too –

‘The more siblings with banked cord blood, the more chance you have of finding a match for transplants or other therapies for which sibling stem cells are an option or in fact required.

The probability of finding an HLA-identical sibling donor depends on the number of siblings: While the likelihood of a perfect match is 25% for patients with one sibling, it goes up to 44% for those with two siblings, 58% for those with three, 68% for those with four, and up to 90% for patients with eight siblings’.

Final Thoughts – Cord Blood For Siblings

Certainly, the discussion about cord blood and its uses will continue for many years to come. However, one point that researchers are delighted to have found is that cord blood can be very beneficial for siblings with a serious medical condition that can be treated with stem cells…

Can Cord Blood Cure Leukemia? (Debunking The Myths)

Trevor Uncategorized September 15, 2023September 15, 2023leukemia

Blood transplants using the blood collected from the umbilical cords of newly born babies has been successfully performed since the early 1990s. It is known that more that 70 serious illnesses can be successfully treated with stem cell transplants. Can cord blood cure leukemia?

The answer to this important question is a resounding ‘yes’. To date there have been thousands of cord blood transplants. Many of them have been to treat cancers like leukemias and lymphoma plus other blood disorders including sickle cell anaemia and other rare anaemias. .

What is leukemia?

There are a number of different types of leukemia. Some types are more common in children, whilst other types are found mainly in adults –

‘Leukemia is cancer of the body’s blood-forming tissues, including the bone marrow and the lymphatic system.

Leukemia usually involves the white blood cells. Your white blood cells are potent infection fighters — they normally grow and divide in an orderly way, as your body needs them. But in people with leukemia, the bone marrow produces an excessive amount of abnormal white blood cells, which don’t function properly.

Treatment for leukemia can be complex — depending on the type of leukemia and other factors’. Source

The Mayo Clinic website a describes the main different types of leukemia –

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). This is the most common type of leukemia in young children. ALL can also occur in adults.
Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). AML is a common type of leukemia. It occurs in children and adults. AML is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). With CLL, the most common chronic adult leukemia, you may feel well for years without needing treatment.
Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). This type of leukemia mainly affects adults. A person with CML may have few or no symptoms for months or years before entering a phase in which the leukemia cells grow more quickly.
Other types. Other, rarer types of leukemia exist, including hairy cell leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes and myeloproliferative disorders.

At present, it is not known exactly what causes leukemia but scientists believe that both genetic and environmental factors play a role. So let’s look more at can cord blood cure leukemia?

How is leukemia treated?

Can cord blood cure leukemia successfully

There are a variety of different treatments including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and targeted drug therapy. Stem cell transplants are also used. The transplanted stem cells are used to replace unhealthy bone marrow.

The transplanted cells are healthy and do not have leukemia and they will develop into healthy bone marrow cells as the stem cells are able to develop into bone marrow cells as well as blood cells.

Often the leukemia producing bone marrow is destroyed by chemotherapy, prior to the stem cell transplant.

Why is cord blood good to use?

Scientists are regularly evaluating the performance of stem cell transplants from cord blood and those from bone marrow. They continually find that using cord blood for transplants brings many advantages.

Cord blood is richer in stem cells than bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cells so less blood is needed. It has also been proven that the recipients body is less likely to reject the cord blood than the bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells.

‘ Studies show that a transplant complication called graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is less common and less severe in patients after a cord blood transplant versus a transplant using peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC)’.

This is because the cord blood does not need to be as close a match as bone marrow. Thus making cord blood easier to use for patients with less common tissue types. Stem cells also have the ability to develop into a range of different types of cells.

The recipient of a cord blood stem cell transplant is also likely to fight the disease more effectively enabling them to live longer. Norton also states that –

‘ Today, 11% of transplant patients receive cord blood from an anonymous donor’.

If a child has stored cord blood and develops leukemia can their own blood be used?

Unfortunately, this is one very important point about a stem cell transplant to treat leukemia.

‘The important caveat is that children with leukemia or another blood disorder must receive a cord blood transplant from a donor, NOT their own cord blood. It turns out that when children and even adolescents develop leukemia, they were born with the genetic defect that triggered the leukemia… hence it is not safe to give them a transplant with their own cord blood because it probably carries the mutation for leukemia’. Source

When a stem cell transplant uses cord blood from an unrelated donor this is referred to as an “allogeneic transplant”. This is essential if the recipient has leukemia. For many other serious illnesses it is possible to use the stem cells from the patients own cord blood. This is referred to as an “autologous transplant”.

Transplant surgeons use donor stem cells for patients with leukemia because the stem cells are likely to fight the leukemia far more effectively than the patient’s own stem cells.

Can cord blood cure leukemia when a patient needs chemotherapy or radiotherapy?

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society explains what happens in these circumstances –

‘Cancer treatment with very high-dose chemotherapy or radiation therapy may result in severe injury to blood-forming cells in marrow, the spongy material inside the centre of bones.

Certain patients with leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or other blood cancers may benefit from high-dose chemotherapy or radiation therapy followed by stem cell transplantation’. Source

Final Thoughts – Can cord blood cure leukemia?

A diagnosis of leukemia can be devastating – not just for the patient – but for the whole family. A stem cell transplant brings with it great hope that the leukemia can be destroyed and the recipient can look forward to many happy years of life ahead of them. In this article we delved into the question can cord blood cure leukemia? It is reassuring to know that it can!