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Cord Blood Transplant ...
CorCell, a Cord Blood America Company, Announces First Autologous Cord Blood Transplant for Childhood Leukemia Worldwide
"This is the first time we have evidence that umbilical cord blood (UCB) can be used in an autologous transplant to treat childhood leukemia," states Jack Goldberg, MD, CorCell Medical Director and Chief of Hematology Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, PennPresbyterian.
"This is critical because it removes the misconception existing in the medical profession that the collection of cord blood for autologous transplantation in the treatment of childhood leukemia was not possible. Importantly, we now know this is not the case."
The Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics released the report, "First Report of Autologous Cord Blood Transplantation in the Treatment of a Child with Leukemia," in Pediatrics 2007; 119: 296-300 on January 3, 2007.
In this first known worldwide reported case, a 3-year-old girl with leukemia was transplanted with her own stored umbilical cord blood after developing isolated central nervous system relapse. This occurred 10-months after diagnosis while she was receiving chemotherapy.
More than two years after transplantation with her own cord blood she is still free of leukemia at age 6. Molecular testing was performed on the cord blood for the detection of the leukemia clone. It was not found, showing that the leukemia was not present at birth.
Initially, a search was undertaken for a match within the family and could not be found. The treating physician stated in the report that, "The decision made by the parents of our patient to save the UCB may have increased the patient's chances of survival." The authors of the report said that the acute lymphoblastic leukemia the three-year-old child presented with is the most common malignancy in children.
"Since CorCell's inception in 1995 as a private, family cord blood bank we have supported both private and public cord blood banking," said Marcia A. Laleman, CorCell's President. "We believe there is a place for both. As medical treatment and research continue to expand the use of cord blood, families should have the option of storing privately or donating to a public bank. The probability that a child's cord blood stem cells will be needed is about 1:2000 during childhood and increases through age 70 to 1:7."
"It is an outstanding day for the cord blood industry and the families who bank their baby's cord blood when yet another treatment opportunity is developed for umbilical cord blood stem cell transplantation," says Matthew Schissler, CEO of Cord Blood America. "With more than 60 clinical trials underway in the United States involving UCB, research is forging ahead to find additional uses for cord blood stem cells. This is an industry that saves lives and of which Cord Blood America and CorCell are tremendously proud to be a part."
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