During pregnancy, the umbilical cord forms as a connection between mother and baby to supply the fetus with everything it needs to grow. Immediately after birth, the umbilical cord offers one more opportunity to give life. Here we look at the physiology and function...
One of the many questions we are asked by expectant parents who are considering banking their baby’s cord blood is: what are the odds of needing a cord blood transplant in the future? In order to answer this question, we must consider not only the types of treatments...
Unlike those of bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cells, cord blood stem cell transplants do not require an exact HLA match. This is because cord blood stem cells are more primitive and adaptable cells. What this means is that it is easier and faster to find a...
We recently blogged about the potential of umbilical cord blood banking – touching on the exciting changes that have occurred over the last 25 years, and what we can look forward to in years to come. What’s even more fascinating is tracking these trends from a...
The year of 2013 marks the 25th anniversary of the first cord blood transplant. The transplant was performed in Paris on October 6, 1988. Since that time, over 600,000 cord blood units have been collected and stored in more than 100 public cord blood banks worldwide....
As with any medical treatment, patients contemplating stem cell therapy should educate themselves on both the benefits and potential risks associated, and speak with their doctors to learn more about the effectiveness of the treatment. Cells For Life is committed to...