The main reason to store umbilical
cord blood is for a future transplant. Umbilical Cord blood
is especially useful for:
Patients who need a transplant very quickly. The umbilical
cord blood unites are stored and ready for immediate use.
Patients who have a hard time finding a matched bone marrow
donor. Umbilical Cord blood does not have to match a patient's
tissue type as closely as donated bone marrow does. If the umbilical
cord blood is donated, it helps patients from racially or ethnic
diverse communities.
Donating and Storing Umbilical Cord
Blood
On almost any day, over 6,000 patients, their friends and family
search for a matching bone marrow donor through National Marrow Donor
Program (NMDP) Registry. These patients have leukemia, lymphoma and
other life threatening diseases that can be treated by a bone marrow or
cord blood transplant. National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry is
the
When donated cord blood meets these standards for transplant, it will
be stored and listed on the NMDP Registry:
The cord blood unit must be large enough (contain enough blood
forming cells) for a transplant. If there are too few cells, the
cord blood may be used for research to improve transplants for
future patients or it may be discarded.
The cord blood unit and the mother's blood sample must show no
signs of infection or other medical concerns.
If the cord blood unit is suitable for transplant, it is tissue
typed, then frozen and stored in a liquid nitrogen freezer. The cord
blood unit is then listed on the NMDP Registry, where it is included in
our research study and available to any searching patient in need.
