The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Enrolment begins for umbilical cord blood bank

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 15, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Enrolment begins for umbilical cord blood bank

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, NOV. 14. A nationwide enrolment drive to collect and store private umbilical cord blood was launched in Chennai today. Twelve pregnant women, scheduled for delivery after December 15, today signed up with LifeCell to store their baby's umbilical cord blood stem cells in a bank to be located near Chennai airport.

The umbilical cord, which forms the lifeline between the mother and the baby, is a rich source of stem cells. Stem cells have the potential of curing more than 45 life threatening ailments and can be collected immediately after delivery, frozen and harvested later for transplants.

Umbilical cord blood can be transplanted onto even unrelated recipients, outside the family of the donor, and in that, they are superior to the more conventional bone marrow transplant, according to Saranya Nandakumar, medical director, LifeCell.

In cases that require stem cell transplantation, the stem cell concentrate from the umbilicus is infused into the patient, begins to regenerate the blood and marrow and takes over the function of the immune system.

Since the immune system cells in cord blood are less mature, they are unlikely to attack the immune system of the recipient, even when the match is not perfect, says Dr. Saranya.

This reduces the chances of the recipient contracting acute graft-versus-host disease, occurring as a result of the transplantation, that could be fatal, she says.

The mothers who have registered themselves will be given a collection kit, which can be used to collect the cord blood immediately after delivery.

After collection, it will be transported by courier to LifeCell's laboratory in Chennai, tested and stored in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of minus 195 degrees.

One portion of the stem cell concentrate will be stored in Chennai, while the other will be transported to the Manipal Institute of Life Sciences.

"This is just to ensure that no natural calamity causes damage to the collected cord blood," Dr. Saranya said.

Inaugurating the national enrolment drive, chairperson, Cancer Institute, V. Shantha, said LifeCell should also set up a public cord blood bank to facilitate greater access to stem cells from cord blood.

If it is a private bank, only those family members of the donor will be allowed to harvest the blood, she added.

LifeCell guarantees that the stem cells can be stored for 21 years. The enrolment, storage and processing fees could be anything between Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 60,000, according to its chairman and CEO, Abhaya Kumar.

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