SMH,
I don't know if you saw this article, but just in case you didn't...
"Monday November 19 10:24 AM ET
UK Experts Question Routine Banking of Cord Blood
LONDON (Reuters Health) - The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said on Sunday that commercial umbilical cord blood banking--in which stem cells are stored indefinitely in the hope they might help treat a child's future illnesses--could not be recommended at present.
Commercial organisations often target parents with emotional literature offering them a ``once-in-a-lifetime opportunity'' to freeze a ``spare immune system'' in case their child develops illness in later life, British doctors said.
``We are concerned that commercial companies are targeting pregnant women with such emotive literature when the scientific evidence is not yet there to back up their claims,'' said Professor Nick Fisk, chairman of the college's scientific advisory committee.
The committee's report says the cost of storage to the patient is typically around 600 (US $850).
It said one company distributes its sales information through an organisation that reaches over 90% of pregnant women in the UK. Other companies advertised on the Web.
``The promotional literature for private cord blood banking sounds persuasive,'' the report notes. Claims included ``like freezing a spare immune system'' and ``saving something that may conceivably save his or her life some day.''
While stem cells collected from cord blood can be used to treat some leukaemias and immune diseases traditionally treated by a bone marrow transplant, the committee notes that companies also have ``lengthy lists of diseases speculated as being potentially amenable to stem-cell therapy in the future, including conditions such as Parkinson's disease (news - web sites), diabetes, cancer and heart disease.''
It says that it is ``speculative'' to suggest that cord blood cells might be used in future years to cure a wide range of other illnesses.
Another problem is that obstetricians and midwives are getting an increasing number of requests from parents who want to have their baby's cord blood collected and shipped for storage.
``Not only does this practice distract labour ward staff from the care of the mother and her baby, but there are serious questions over the legal position of clinicians should any problems with the sample be discovered later in life,'' added Fisk in a statement.
``We are recommending that individual NHS Trusts need to develop their own policy on how to respond to prenatal requests for cord blood storage through commercial providers.''
The report concludes that ``routine commercial cord blood collection and stem-cell storage cannot be recommended at the present time because of the insufficient scientific base to support such practice and the logistic problems of collection for National Health Service providers.''
The American Academy of Pediatrics also warned in 1999 that there was not enough evidence to support the routine harvesting and storage of umbilical cord blood.
The first successful cord blood transplant between relatives was carried out 12 years ago. Blood taken from umbilical cords has since become an alternative source of haemopoietic stem cells (HSC) and has been used in over 2,000 transplants between relatives and non-relatives worldwide. Haemopoietic stem cells, which can give rise to blood and immune system cells, have traditionally been derived from bone marrow.
Since 1996, cord blood banking of HSC has been undertaken in the UK by non-profit facilities within the National Blood Service. Obstetric patients donate cord blood to the cord blood banking service, in a similar way to bone marrow donors. |
