Patient's question:
Treatment and Effect: Is the actual value of storing umbilical cord blood significant? Can it be stored for many years? Is the quantity sufficient? What kind of assistance do you care about: Please explain for me, thank you...Doctor's answer:
Umbilical cord blood refers to the blood that flows from the placenta and umbilical cord after the umbilical cord is cut at birth. Umbilical cord blood contains self-healing stem cells, which can be used to replace bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cells for transplantation. Currently, umbilical cord blood is mainly used to treat blood diseases, including leukemia, lymphoma, anemia, etc. Moreover, since the immune function of stem cells in umbilical cord blood has not yet fully developed, it is relatively easier to match, especially among family members with a higher probability.Recommendation:
There are two types of umbilical cord blood banks today:
1. Public umbilical cord blood bank: Stores randomly donated normal newborn umbilical cord blood, which can be used for any patient with a suitable match.
2. Private umbilical cord blood bank: Stores the umbilical cord blood of the fetus itself, serving as a reserve for future hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for the individual or their relatives. Typically, hospitals recommend parents to pay to store umbilical cord blood in a private bank.
The primary utility of umbilical cord blood is to perform transplants for leukemia patients. However, the incidence of leukemia is very low, approximately one in 100,000, so the likelihood of using it for oneself is extremely small. Even if it can be used, if the individual is over 16 years old, the amount of umbilical cord blood may still be insufficient. Additionally, storing umbilical cord blood requires cryopreservation at -200°C, and it remains unknown whether the stem cells can retain sufficient activity after being stored for over a decade at such temperatures.
Moreover, if the stored umbilical cord blood is not used by the individual, it will be discarded after 20 years in a private bank, and others will not be able to use it, leading to significant waste. If a family has a history of blood diseases, and the risk of the (offspring) developing the condition is high, storage may be considered.