After a baby is born, cord blood is left in the umbilical cord. It is relatively easy to collect, with no risk to the mother or baby. It contains haematopoietic (blood) stem cells: rare cells normally found in the bone marrow.
Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) can make every type of cell in the blood-red cells, white cells and platelets. They are responsible for maintaining blood production throughout our lives. They have been used for many years in bone marrow transplants to treat blood diseases.
Umbilical cord blood was once discarded as waste material but is now known to be a useful source of blood stem cells. Cord blood has been used to treat children with certain blood diseases since 1989 and research on using it to treat adults is making progress.
Diseases that cord blood stem cells are currently being used to treat:
Leukaemias
10,100 new diagnosis each year in the UK. That’s 28 every day. There are around 4,700 leukaemia deaths in the UK every year, that’s 13 every day
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Acute Myelogenous Leukemia
Acute Biphenotypic Leukemia
Acute Undifferentiated Leukemia
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML)
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)
Juvenile Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (JCML)
Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML)
Refractory Anemia (RA)
Refractory Anemia with Ringed Sideroblasts (RARS)
Refractory Anemia with Excess Blasts (RAEB)
Refractory Anemia with Excess Blasts in Transformation (RAEB-T)
Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia (CMML)
Lymphomas
13,000 new diagnosis each year in the UK each year. Slightly more men than women are affected.
Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Solid Tumours
Neuroblastoma
Medulloblastoma
Retinoblastoma
Anemias
Aplastic Anemia
Congenital Dyserythropoietic Anemia
Fanconi Anemia
Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH)
Inherited Red Cell Abnormalities
Beta Thalassemia Major (also known as Cooley’s Anemia)
Blackfan-Diamond Anemia
Pure Red Cell Aplasia
Sickle Cell Disease
Inherited Platelet Abnormalities
Amegakaryocytosis / Congenital Thrombocytopenia
Glanzmann Thrombasthenia
Inherited Immune System Disorders
SCID with Adenosine Deaminase Deficiency (ADA-SCID)
SCID which is X-linked
SCID with absence of T & B Cells
SCID with absence of T Cells, Normal B Cells
Omenn Syndrome
Kostmann Syndrome
Ataxia–Telangiectasia
Bare Lymphocyte Syndrome
Common Variable Immunodeficiency
DiGeorge Syndrome
Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency
Lymphoproliferative Disorders (LPD)
Lymphoproliferative Disorder, X-linked (also known as Epstein–Barr Virus Susceptibility)
Wiskott–Aldrich Syndrome
Myeloproliferative Disorders
Acute Myelofibrosis
Agnogenic Myeloid Metaplasia (Myelofibrosis)
Polycythemia Vera
Essential Thrombocythemia
Phagocyte Disorders
Chediak–Higashi Syndrome
Chronic Granulomatous Disease
Neutrophil Actin Deficiency
Reticular Dysgenesis
Bone Marrow Cancers
Multiple Myeloma
Plasma Cell Leukemia
Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia
Inherited Immune & Other System Disorders
Cartilage–Hair Hypoplasia
Gunther’s Disease (Erythropoietic Porphyria)
Hermansky–Pudlak Syndrome
Pearson’s Syndrome
Shwachman–Diamond Syndrome
Systemic Mastocytosis
Inherited Metabolic Disorders
Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS)
Hurler’s Syndrome (MPS–IH)
Scheie Syndrome (MPS–IS)
Hunter’s Syndrome (MPS–II)
Sanfilippo Syndrome (MPS–III)
Morquio Syndrome (MPS–IV)
Maroteaux–Lamy Syndrome (MPS–VI)
Sly Syndrome, Beta–Glucuronidase Deficiency (MPS–VII)
Mucolipidosis II (I–cell Disease)
Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD)/Adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN)
Krabbe Disease (Globoid Cell Leukodystrophy)
Metachromatic Leukodystrophy
Pelizaeus–Merzbacher Disease
Gaucher Disease
Niemann–Pick Disease
Sandhoff Disease
Tay–Sachs Disease
Wolman Disease
Lesch–Nyhan Syndrome
Osteopetrosis
