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For patients with blood based cancers such as, leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, one of their only treatment is a bone marrow transplant. A bone marrow transplant is a procedure that infuses healthy blood cells taken from a donor, and it aims to stop cancerous blood cells from spreading. But, people with an ethnic or mixed race heritage have a harder time finding a match. Colleen Delaney of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center says that the chances for minorities and people of mixed race background finding a matched donor are slim to none.
Nonetheless, recent scientific advances signal a new future possibility to treat blood based cancers by using stem cells from a baby’s umbilical cord. In the past, a patient’s body would reject anything but a perfect or near-perfect match. Umbilical cord blood on the other hand is seen as a blank slate, it has not been exposed to too much life, like bacteria and viruses, making it a better match. Richard Jones, director of the bone marrow transplant program estimates that 75,000 transplants of donated stem cells were done in 2014 primarily for blood based cancer.
“This is where cord blood becomes an amazing and beautiful resource, we can find cord blood donor for 99% of patients who cannot find a donor,” said Delaney.
This advance in particular is valuable for minorities and people of mixed race background, because instead of waiting on only one solution, they now have another alternative, allowing for a better success rate! Read the full story at: https://goo.gl/UZYAe9
Insception Lifebank is Canada’s largest cord blood bank, for further information please feel free to call 1-866-606-2790 or email your inquiries at info@insception.com, and one of our clinical educators will be happy to assist you.
