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The first transplant of stem cells from umbilical cord blood occurred in the 1980s. Since then, researchers have found, and continue to find, many conditions that can benefit from treatment with the stem cells found in umbilical cord blood. These special cells - called hematopoietic stem cells - can enter the body and begin to create healthy cells needed by the patient. They also "self renew" and therefore are able to help the patient's body produce new stem cells, that can then go on to also produce new cells to replace those damaged by the illness. As a result, these stem cells have a high potential to treat many different illnesses.
The stem cells acquired from umbilical cord blood are generally used to treat some types of cancer as well as genetic disorders involving the blood and immune systems. Types of cancer finding successful treatment from the hematopoietic stem cells found in umbilical cord blood include:
- Acute Myelogenous Leukemia
- Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia
- Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
- Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
- Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia
- Hodgkin's Lymphoma
- Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
- Myeloma (cancer of plasma cells)
One of the main functions stem cells serve for cancer patients is to re-introduce stem cells that were killed during chemotherapy treatments. While chemotherapy kills the cancerous cells, it also kills beneficial cells. As a result, many patients undergoing chemotherapy can benefit from the introduction of donated hematopoietic stem cells from umbilical cord blood to help their bodies repair the damage done by the chemo as well as create new, cancer free cells.
Umbilical cord blood has also proven a successful treatment for individuals with conditions involving bone marrow. These include diseases such as Fanconi Anemia, Severe Aplastic Anemia, and Pure Red Cell Aplasia. Stem cells from donations of umbilical cord blood are introduced to the patient, and they then begin replicating themselves, as well as creating bone marrow that is healthy and functioning properly.
Genetic disorders that can be treated using the stem cells found in umbilical cord blood generally affect the immune system or reside in the blood. This is because of the fact that hematopoietic stem cells can only replicate certain types of cells like those in the blood and bone marrow, unlike embryonic stem cells, which can replicate any cell, but are also the source of great controversy. Some of the genetic (inherited) disorders that utilize umbilical cord blood for treatment include Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome, Severe Combined Immunodifeciency (SCID), Adrenoleukodystrophy, and Sickle Cell Disease.
Researchers continue to find new ways that stem cells can potentially help humans maintain and restore health. A team of Korean scientists treated a woman with a spinal cord injury that hadn’t walked in 19 years. After treatment with stem cells found in umbilical cord blood, she is walking on her own. Heart disease has been treated on several different continents with stem cells originally from umbilical cord blood. And, there are those with theories that stem cells may be able to help victims of stroke, brain damage, and even baldness!
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