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Cord Blood Awareness Month is officially underway, and one of the major goals of the campaign is to encourage families to learn more about cord blood. Cord blood contains hematopoietic stem cells, which can develop into other types of blood cells, and potentially provide therapy for an increasing number of medical conditions and disorders.
Cord blood could be especially helpful for patients who are in need of a transplant immediately, or were unable to find a bone marrow donor who is their genetic match. Patients who are of visible minorities or mixed ethnicities can find it especially challenging finding a matching bone marrow donor.
Prior to a stem cell transplant, physicians compare the Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLAs) of the patient and the donor. HLAs are proteins within a patient’s immune system, which determine how the patient could react to a transplant from the potential donor.
For patients to receive a bone marrow transplant, all 6 HLA types within their immune systems must be genetic matches to the donors. This is particularly challenging for patients of visible minorities as there are fewer potential donors that will be perfect genetic matches to their immune systems.
A cord blood stem cell transplant is potentially just as effective as bone marrow. However, cord blood does not require a perfect HLA genetic match, which provides more options for patients in need of quick transplants.
Cord Blood Awareness Month continues throughout July. Physicians are encouraging families to ask questions about cord blood, and how deciding to store their baby’s cord blood can potentially benefit others who are unable to find genetic donors. Medical research continues to uncover new therapeutic advantages of cord blood that could potentially save many lives around the world.