Advantages of Donation

Stem Cells Offer Leukaemia Patients Hope

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New technology exists to treat leukemia patients with stem cell technology using cord blood.

The problem is that it’s hard to find a bone marrow match for these patients. But this problem is starting to get fixed by using the blood from a newborn baby.

Also known as ‘cord blood’, this transplant was only used in kids before because scientists thought that the blood didn’t contain enough of the needed stem cells to replenish the circulatory system and thus fight leukemia. They were wrong because a new study by the New England Journal of Medicine says that there IS enough stem cells in cord blood to treat an adult.

This is really great because the study found that this new treatment provides a better success rates then a mismatched marrow type transplant.

More and more research needs to be done. But, all in all…it’s a great step for stem cell technology to incorporate the cord blood stockpiles that are out there to save peoples lives.

Embryonic vs. Cord stem cells

Embryonic vs. Cord Stem Cells

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What is the big difference of a stem cell from the embryo versus the umbilical cord blood from a newborn?

This is the debate that rages on. Here we will layout the differences in the hopes of bringing some clarity to this.

Embryonic Stem Cells

As their title suggests, they are taken from the embryo (egg). The problem is that to obtain these stem cells, the embryo must be destroyed… hence the controversy of killing unborn fetuses. In theory, embryonic stem cells can produce any other specialized cell in the body.

First isolated by James Thompson of the University of Wisconsin Madison. This was funded by the biotech company Geron in 1998.

These stem cells could be used to make any one of 200 different cell types in the human body. More importantly, these cells could be used to treat genetic diseases like Parkinson’s, heart disease, diabetes, or a host of others. Five days after conception the cells are collected from a blastocyst. This blastocyst is destroyed (the egg is unusable) to get the cells out.

Fun fact: Number of clinical trials: 0

Umbilical Cord Blood Cells

Parents are paying to have their baby’s cord blood cells saved (really they are frozen) as a biological insurance. This insurance is going to be hypothetically used to replace or repair the newborn’s cells, or even organs in the future. These cells are less likely to be made into any cell the body can produce, but have already been used in treating cancer.

  • First Patient was a 5 year old boy with Fanconi’s anemia in 1988. He is still alive and doing well after the treatment.
  • Cord cells have untapped potential and are currently being used about 60% of the time to treat leukemia.
  • A few cells are picked from about a billion cells found in the umbilical cord.

Fun fact: Number of clinical trials: 50

Houston

Baylor College of Medicine

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It is surprising that a metropolitan area like Houston only has two clinics, plus one at Baylor University (see the Dallas listings for information on Baylor’s program).

The clinics offer straightforward infertility services, and make no comments about whether they serve gay and lesbian couples wishing to become parents.

Baylor College of Medicine
Houston TX
713-798-4001

Phoenix

Phoenix Mayo Clinic

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Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale has physician and administrative leaders who are experienced in directing and operating BMT programs, including the highly-specialized billing and managed care contracting aspects of BMT services.

Mayo Clinic
13400 East Shea Blvd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85259
(480) 301-8000
fax (480) 301-7006
(TDD) (480) 301-7683
International Patients Center (480) 301-7101
International Patients Center Fax (480) 301-9310

Mayo Clinic Hospital
5777 East Mayo Boulevard
Phoenix, AZ 85054
(480) 515-6296
fax(480) 342-1138

Phoenix

Phoenix Children’s Hospital

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Phoenix Children’s Hospital
The Children’s Cancer Center at Phoenix Children’s Hospital (PCH) cares for the majority of pediatric cancer patients in Arizona, and is known statewide as the leader in pediatric cancer treatment.

PCH’s new in-patient hospital and outpatient clinics are designed and equipped exclusively for the care of children. Given the often long-duration of cancer treatment, including the BMT episode of care, Phoenix Children’s Hospital extensive family support programs, including individual counseling, family support groups, school re-entry programs, camps and scholarships, are vital underpinnings to the complete care of these patients.

Phoenix Children’s Hospital
1919 E. Thomas Road
Phoenix, AZ 85016
(602) 546-1000

Philadelphia

Coriell Institute for Medical Research

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The Coriell Institute for Medical Research in New Jersey is an internationally known not-for-profit, basic biomedical research institution.

In the late 1940s, the Institute’s founder, Lewis L. Coriell, M.D., Ph.D., played a major role in bringing the Salk polio vaccine to the public by using cell cultures to study human viral diseases. The Institute pioneered many cell culture techniques which are now standard throughout the world. They used these techniques to make many advances in understanding cancer and infectious diseases.

The Coriell Institute for Medical Research also serves the entire scientific community by maintaining the world’s largest collection of human cells for research. The identification of genes associated with Huntington Disease, cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer Disease, Down Syndrome and a severe form of manic depression, among many others, relied on cells from these collections.

With funding from the State of New Jersey, this innovative program the Institute collects and stores umbilical cord blood. A public resource, the NJCBB makes umbilical cord blood transplantation available to all citizens. Coriell is not in the business of storing cord blood exclusively for individuals.

The New Jersey Cord Blood Bank accepts cord blood donations at no cost from women who give birth at either Cooper Hospital or Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, both in Camden, and Virtua Health’s Voorhees division. The donations are available publicly to anyone looking for a match. Other participating hospitals are:

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard
Philadelphia, Pa. 19104
215-590-1000

Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital
Camden, NJ
New Jersey Cord Blood Bank at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research
(856) 757-9752

Burlington Memorial Virtua Hospital
Mt. Holly, NJ
New Jersey Cord Blood Bank at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research
(856) 757-9752

West Jersey Virtua Hospital
Voorhees, NJ
New Jersey Cord Blood Bank at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research
(856) 757-9752

Philadelphia

CorCell Cord Blood Program

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Philadelphia lives up to it’s moniker “City of Brotherly Love” in the availability of cord blood donation centers in its research hospitals and private storage companies. With the population base overlapping both metro New York and Baltimore’s, pregnant women in Philadelphia have an enviable choice regarding donating their baby’s cord blood.

CorCell
CorCell is the oldest and most experienced of the outlets which use the Community Blood Services laboratory. CorCell, Inc. is headquartered in Philadelphia and began as the first private cord blood company licensed for umbilical cord blood collection.

CorCell stores umbilical cord blood stem cells in its internationally known, AABB accredited banking facility, through their processing center, Bergen Community Blood Services. Formed in 1996, the Philadelphia based CorCell was anticipated to be a company serving the local area including various parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

However, CorCell has grown and has now collected umbilical cord blood from thousands of hospitals in all 50 states and from several other countries, even as far away as Australia by providing shipping with temperature control and secure chain-of-custody.

CorCell
888-3-CORCELL
office: Philadelphia, PA
storage: Community Blood Services , Bergen, NJ

NY

New York Weill Cornell Medical Center

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In 2002, New York Weill Cornell Medical Center and The Brooklyn Hospital Center donated 1,779 cord bloods to The National Cord Blood Program.

98 percent of mothers giving birth at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center have chosen to donate their cord bloods.

These cord bloods have been used in life-saving transplant operations worldwide, from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City to hospitals as far afield as Brazil. Hospitals are also using cord bloods in research that may one day treat such diseases as diabetes and heart disease.

Bone Marrow and Blood Stem Cell Transplant Program
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center
525 East 68th St.
(at York Avenue)
New York, NY
US, 10021
212 746 5454

New York Cord Blood Center
(800) 933-BLOOD (2566) or 212-570-3210.

NY

New York Blood Center

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Like Boston and Philadelphia, New York City has a stellar concentration of research and teaching hospitals, as well as a huge network of smaller maternity hospitals. Women have a variety of public and private cord blood donor companies to choose from to insure that either their baby’s own cord blood is stored against a possible later use or is donated for the public good.

New York Blood Center
The New York Blood Center’s mission is to provide the safest, best quality transfusion related products and services at a reasonable cost to those who will benefit, and to increase the body and availability of knowledge in transfusion medicine.

Mothers giving birth at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center and The Brooklyn Hospital Center – both members of the NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System – voluntarily donated a record number of life-saving umbilical cord bloods to New York Blood Center’s National Cord Blood Program in 2003, representing 41 percent of the Program’s one year cord blood donations.

The Program, the largest public cord blood bank in the world, provides half of all unrelated cord bloods for transplant. Patients worldwide have benefited from cord blood treatments for diseases such as late stage leukemia, and scientists use cord blood to research promising new treatments. In effect, many mothers are now giving their “gift of life” twice.

New York Blood Center
310 E 67th St.
NY, NY
(212) 570-3000

LA

StemCyte International Cord Blood Center

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StemCyte International Cord Blood Center

Private company StemCyte and its subsidiaries are dedicated to providing high quality, cost-effective stem cell transplantation and therapy to all patients in need.

StemCyte specializes in stem cell technology such as transplantation therapy, diagnostics, research and development, and genomics. One area of focus is in Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation (UCBSCT), a substitute for traditional bone marrow transplantation (BMT).

Cord blood transplantation has proven to be effective with over 2,000 transplantation performed to date and shown to be equal to bone marrow transplantation in most aspects, including survival. However, due to the high cost, only a few tens of thousands specimens have been banked in the world, mostly by non-profit or government backed agencies.

Therefore, SCI intends to create the largest private donor umbilical cord blood stem cell bank in the world.

StemCyte International Cord Blood Center
(866) STEMCYTE

These Los Angeles area hospitals contract with StemCyte for cord blood donations:

White Memorial Medical Center
Los Angeles, CA StemCyte International Cord Blood Center
(866) STEMCYTE

Garfield Medical Center
Monterey Park, CA StemCyte International Cord Blood Center
(866) STEMCYTE

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian
Newport Beach, CA StemCyte International Cord Blood Center
(866) STEMCYTE

St. Joseph’s Hospital of Orange
Orange, CA Children’s Hospital of Orange County Cord Blood Bank
(714) 516-4335

Torrance Memorial Medical Center
Torrance, CA StemCyte International Cord Blood Center
(866) STEMCYTE

Citrus Valley Medical Center – Queen of the Valley
West Covina, CA StemCyte International Cord Blood Center
(866) STEMCYTE

Kaiser Permanente
Woodland Hills, CA StemCyte International Cord Blood Center
(866) STEMCYTE

StemCyte International Cord Blood Center
400 Rolyn Place
Arcadia, CA 91007
(866) STEMCYTE

Look into this exciting new technology that can save lives and heal the sick!