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Parents warned over speculative cord blood banking

Heidi Nicholl Progress Educational Trust 19 June 2006 [BioNews, London] The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has issued an updated version of its Scientific Opinion Paper on Umbilical Cord Blood Banking. The report finds that there is little evidence to recommend the practice whereby private companies collect and store umbilical cord blood for up to twenty years - at a charge of up to ?1500 - for possible future use. The National Health Service (NHS) currently collects cord blood from selected centres in the UK, where women are approached during the maternity period and offered the opportunity to donate. Cord blood stem cells have been useful in the treatment of cancers such as leukaemia. The NHS public bank collects 1700 to 2000 samples each year which may be accessed by those in need. Cord blood storage is also offered to families affected by specific genetic disorders that may be treatable with a transplant, for example Fanconi anaemia. Critics say that private companies play on parents fears, with the offer of future speculative treatments for many conditions not currently treatable with cord blood. Professor Peter Braude, head of the Department of Women's Health at King's College London and chair of the RCOG expert group commented, 'The likelihood of use is extremely small and some of the uses are extremely speculative'. Professor Braude went on to say that, 'Most people are unaware there is an NHS cord blood bank and most transplants are done with bone marrow'. The RCOG committee called for increased funding into the NHS bank so that more samples could be collected and those in need could have better access. They warned that there is currently 'insufficient evidence' to recommend private collection and storage. Demand for private cord blood banks has increased recently with around 11,000 British couples opting to store their child's blood using companies such as the UK Cord Blood Bank, Smart Cells and Future Health. Susan Bewley, chairwoman of the RCOG ethics committee and a consultant obstetrician said, 'Being born is inherently quite dangerous. We meddle and fiddle with that at our peril'. The college recommends that each hospital trust needs to develop its own policy on how to deal with cord blood storage requests. Blood should only be extracted once the placenta is out of the womb and collection should be by a trained third party, not by the attending obstetrician or midwife whose care should be focused on the mother and child. http://www.BioNews.org.uk BioNews@progress.org.uk © Copyright 2008 Progress Educational Trust Reproduced from BioNews with permission, a web- and email-based source of news, information and comment on assisted reproduction and human genetics, published by Progress Educational Trust.

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Visitor comments (2) Write a comment The Potential and Promise of Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells Umbilical cord blood can potentially be collected every time a baby is born. This blood contains life giving stem cells. The cord blood can be processed and the stem cells frozen to use, if required, as a transplant at a later date. These stem cells are capable of being used to replace the bone marrow of patients undergoing chemotherapy for leukaemia and cancer. Umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants have now been used over 6,000 times worldwide to treat 45 different diseases. These transplants have mainly been to siblings and near family members in the case of privately stored samples. This total also includes the unrelated transplants resulting from cord blood stem cells being stored in public banks worldwide. One notable transplant is that of a patient in Montreal, Canada. This patient became pregnant and then developed leukaemia during her pregnancy. She was aware of the potential of cord blood and when her baby was born ensured that the cord blood was processed and stored. She was then given chemotherapy to destroy the leukaemia and received a cord blood stem cell transplant using her own daughters? cord blood. This lady is now fit and well and owes her life to a cord blood transplant. The technology of umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants is clearly well established and many such lives will be saved in the future based on our current knowledge. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of cord blood stem cell transplantation is what the future holds. The medical literature on this subject increases on a daily basis. Researchers have now shown that umbilical cord blood stem cells are capable of forming the pre-cursor cells of every tissue type in the body. This observation means that in theory umbilical cord blood stem cells may be able to treat the major diseases in the future such as heart disease, diabetes, neuro-degenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer?s disease and repair of the central nervous system in such things as spinal damage. A clinical trial in Canada hopes to assess the potential of cord blood stem cell therapy in MS patients. It is important not to assume that umbilical cord blood is the panacea of the future but at the same time the scientific evidence at the moment shows that there is enormous potential in these cells. Only time will tell. Umbilical cord blood stem cells are potential life-savers today and in the future the application of these cells could be widespread. The priority today is to process and store these cells for future use whether it be for tried and tested therapy for leukaemia or for medical breakthrough applications in the future. Umbilical cord blood stem cells are truly the gift of life. Dr Peter Hollands Chief Scientific Officer UK Cord Blood Bank www.cordbloodbank.co.uk 19 June 2006 - Dr Peter Hollands The action of the RCOG has effectively resulted in a restriction of freedom of choice for parents to be. Such decisions should not be taken by the RCOG...........parents should decide what is best for their family! It is my opinion that we should collect all cord blood. Those people who wish to store it for their own family use and pay for the service should be enouraged to do. Those people who do not want to store the stem cells for their family use should be asked to donate their cord blood for public use or research. This is the model we intend to use at UK Cord Blood Bank (www.cordbloodbank.co.uk). We are hoping to work with major hospitals with a view to collecting all cord blood available either for private storage or public use. Those units stored for public use will be made available to anyone in need worldwide. We, as a private company, will be funding our public cord blood banking efforts initially and we will collaborate with the existing NHS cord blood banks where possible. Further funding, either from gifts or charitable donations, will be needed in the long term. If a cord blood donor finds they need their stem cells, and the cells are still in our storage tanks, then the cells will be happily given back to the donor. The demand for stem cells of course means that it is unlikely that a cord blood unit would stay in our tanks for long! The RCOG clearly do not understand cord blood stem cell technology despite their long awaited report. This report has set the UK back 20 years in cord blood stem cell technology compared to N.America and the rest of Europe. Cord blood is the most underused, understated source of stem cells we have. Political and media pressure promotes embryonic stem cells. It is time we saw common sense and started collecting as much cord blood as possible to help the people who really count, current and future patients. 19 June 2006 - Dr Peter Hollands