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NHS should not encourage commercial blood banking
October 16, 2006NHS maternity units should not encourage commercial banking of umbilical cord blood BMJ Volume 333 pp 801-4
NHS maternity units should not encourage commercial banking of umbilical cord blood, argues a senior doctor in this week's BMJ.
Instead, women should be encouraged to donate altruistically to public blood banks.
Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells that can be used to treat diseases such as childhood leukaemia. Bone marrow is used for this purpose, but cord blood is cheaper and easier to obtain and less likely to trigger a harmful immune response or rejection in the recipient.
For these reasons interest has been growing in banking cord blood as insurance against future disease, but this has worrying implications for NHS services and little chance of benefit, says Dr Leroy Edozien, a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester.
Cord blood banks generally fall into two groups. Public banks collect cord blood which has been altruistically donated. The blood is used to treat unrelated recipients or is collected from families with a known genetic disease that is treatable by blood stem cell transplantation.
Since 1996, the NHS has been banking donated cord blood through designated public banks run by the National Blood Service and there is universal approval of the storage of this blood.
In contrast, commercial (private) banks operate collection and storage of a baby's cord blood for later use by that person or their siblings should they develop an illness. This 'just-in-case' collection has been criticised by numerous medical bodies and is not recommended.
Scientific arguments against commercial cord blood banking include the chances of the blood being used are very small, the alternatives such as bone marrow, and the speculative claims about how cord blood could be used to treat disease.
But, whatever the scientific merits or demerits, commercial blood banking also raises serious resource, legal, and ethical issues for NHS maternity units, warns the author.
Taking the arguments for and against into consideration, the balance is tilted strongly against NHS trusts collecting cord blood for commercial banking. It should therefore be NHS policy not to facilitate umbilical cord blood collection by its staff, he concludes.
BMJ-British Medical Journal
Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells that can be used to treat diseases such as childhood leukaemia. Bone marrow is used for this purpose, but cord blood is cheaper and easier to obtain and less likely to trigger a harmful immune response or rejection in the recipient.
For these reasons interest has been growing in banking cord blood as insurance against future disease, but this has worrying implications for NHS services and little chance of benefit, says Dr Leroy Edozien, a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester.
Cord blood banks generally fall into two groups. Public banks collect cord blood which has been altruistically donated. The blood is used to treat unrelated recipients or is collected from families with a known genetic disease that is treatable by blood stem cell transplantation.
Since 1996, the NHS has been banking donated cord blood through designated public banks run by the National Blood Service and there is universal approval of the storage of this blood.
In contrast, commercial (private) banks operate collection and storage of a baby's cord blood for later use by that person or their siblings should they develop an illness. This 'just-in-case' collection has been criticised by numerous medical bodies and is not recommended.
Scientific arguments against commercial cord blood banking include the chances of the blood being used are very small, the alternatives such as bone marrow, and the speculative claims about how cord blood could be used to treat disease.
But, whatever the scientific merits or demerits, commercial blood banking also raises serious resource, legal, and ethical issues for NHS maternity units, warns the author.
Taking the arguments for and against into consideration, the balance is tilted strongly against NHS trusts collecting cord blood for commercial banking. It should therefore be NHS policy not to facilitate umbilical cord blood collection by its staff, he concludes.
BMJ-British Medical Journal
Cord Blood Current Events and Cord Blood News RSSUmbilical cord blood stem cell transplant may help lung, heart disorders
Two separate studies published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (18:8), - now freely available on-line have shown that transplanted human-derived umbilical cord blood (UCB) stem cells transplanted in an animal model had positive therapeutic effects on specific lung and heart disorders the animal models.
U of M researchers find 2 units of umbilical cord blood reduce risk of leukemia recurrence
A new study from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota shows that patients who have acute leukemia and are transplanted with two units of umbilical cord blood (UCB) have significantly reduced risk of the disease returning.
The use of stem cells in regenerative medicine may also be detrimental for health
The use of stem cells in regenerative medicine is not always beneficial for human health, it may even be harmful according to a work done by the University of Granada and University of León. Scientists have demonstrated that transplantation of human mononuclear cells isolated from umbilical cord blood exerted a deleterious effect in rats with liver cirrhosis.
NIH launches 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine trials in HIV-infected pregnant women
The first clinical trials to test whether the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine can safely elicit a protective immune response in pregnant women launched yesterday, and a trial to conduct the same test in HIV-infected children and youth will begin next week.
Private umbilical cord banking not cost-effective, UCSF research shows
Private cord blood banking is not cost-effective because it costs an additional $1,374,246 per life-year gained, according to a new analysis by UCSF researchers.
Case Western Reserve researchers discover the key to malaria susceptibility in children
A team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have solved the mystery of why some children are more susceptible to malaria infection and anemia.
Human term placenta a new abundant source of hematopoietic cells
Investigators at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, California found a way to obtain large numbers of hematopoietic stem cell from human term placenta.
Exposure to phthalates may be a risk factor for low birth weight in infants
Many parents worry about their child's exposure to phthalates, the chemical compounds used as plasticizers in a wide variety of personal care products, children's toys, and medical devices.
Children susceptible to pesticides longer than expected, study finds
Although it is known that infants are more susceptible than adults to the toxic effects of pesticides, this increased vulnerability may extend much longer into childhood than expected.
Children's Hospital Oakland scientists first to discover new source for harvesting stem cells
A groundbreaking study conducted by Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland is the first to reveal a new avenue for harvesting stem cells from a woman's placenta, or more specifically the discarded placentas of healthy newborns.
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