Cured by his own cord blood 19 years later October 2023
The following story was reported in May 2023 at the 10th cord blood conference of the China Maternal and Child Health Association. The patient has been given the pseudonym “Xiao An”. In Chinese, “Xiao” is a gender-neutral name that is often translated as “dawn”, “little”, and “reverent of the elderly.” "I didn't expect that the umbilical cord blood saved for the child would actually save the child's life 19 years later!" said the father of Xiaoan, an aplastic anemia patient, excitedly. In 2021, 18-year-old Xiao An suddenly suffered from aplastic anemia. Fortunately, the cord blood stored in Tianjin Umbilical Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank under Zhongyuan Concorde saved his life and he is recovering well. This is by far the longest storage of autologous cord blood used for therapy in China, creating a new record for self-storage and self-use of cord blood in China. Every time Xiaoan's parents recalled their decision to preserve their cord blood, they felt extremely grateful. When Xiaoan was born in 2003, domestic awareness of umbilical cord blood was still in its infancy. With the mentality of "preparation, multiple guarantees, and multiple peace of mind", they stored the umbilical cord blood for their children. It was this seed of life from Xiaoan himself that brought the fire of life back to him 19 years later. In December 2021, Xiaoan, who had just turned 18, suddenly developed symptoms such as ulcers and blood spots. After a series of examinations, Xiaoan was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. This severe attack can lead to complete bone marrow failure and death. While seeking treatment in many domestic hospitals, Xiaoan's parents learned that: At present, umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is one of the effective methods for treating aplastic anemia, and the cure rate of cord blood transplants with the patient’s own autologous cord blood is high. This gave Xiaoan's family, who had been shrouded in the haze of the disease, a new light of hope, because as early as 2003, when the child was born, Xiaoan's parents had stored umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cells for the child in the Tianjin Cord Blood Bank. After Xiaoan's treatment plan for autologous umbilical cord blood transplantation was determined, the hospital and Xiaoan's parents contacted Tianjin Cord Blood Bank as soon as possible. Upon receiving the news, the staff of the cord blood bank immediately devoted themselves to the preparations for the release of the cord blood. Re-examination by professional technicians showed that the umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cells that had been "sleeping" for 19 years were in good condition, and all indicators met the release standards. In December 2022, Xiaoan was transferred to Beijing Lu Daopei Hospital, a well-known specialized hospital for blood diseases in the country, and was officially prepared to receive a stem cell transplant. With the efforts of the staff, the precious cord blood was successfully delivered to the transplantation hospital. December 25, 2022 is of great significance to Xiaoan's family. After the all-out treatment Xiaoan underwent reinfusion of umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cells on the same day, and this precious seed of life returned to the owner smoothly. About a month later, Xiaoan was released from intensive care, and all physical indicators recovered well. He was discharged from the hospital in February of 2023 and returned to normal life. Xiao An is unfortunate, but also "lucky". Talking about the child's illness and treatment experience, Xiao An's parents are very grateful for storing the umbilical cord blood for the child. Umbilical cord blood is the blood collected from the umbilical vein after the baby is born and the umbilical cord is severed. It is rich in blood-forming “hematopoietic” stem cells and is of great help in the treatment of blood diseases. At present, with the continuous development of medical technology, umbilical cord blood has clinical application value in more than 80 diseases of the blood system and the metabolism. The popularization of umbilical cord blood storage technology will provide health protection for more families. In Xiaoan's treatment case, autologous cord blood played a positive role. At the same time, the mature storage technology and safety guarantee of Tianjin Cord Blood Bank have also been unanimously recognized by clinical experts. The autologous transplant successfully rekindled life across 19 years of time and space, and also guarded a healthy and happy future for a family. Disclaimer: In most countries, it is the policy of the medical community to try to find an unrelated donor for a patient with Aplastic Anemia. This is the case in the United States and in India. However, if an unrelated donor is not available, and if the Aplastic Anemia is considered to be “acquired” (triggered by a virus, and not due to inborn genetics), then doctors may restore the immune system that the patient had at birth by transplanting the patient’s own cord blood stem cells. Another example of this therapy is the story of Henrique in Portugal. References Tianjin Cord Blood Bank. Nineteen years like a day, holding up the "seed of life". Concord News. To learn more about cord blood banking, visit Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Foundation at https://parentsguidecordblood.org/en/news/cured-his-own-cord-blood-19-years-later
How Long Can Cord Blood Be Stored? October 2023
The cryogenic storage of cord blood was pioneered by Dr. Hal Broxmeyer at the Indiana University School of Medicine. He preserved the cord blood for the world’s first cord blood transplant in 1988: the cord blood from newborn Alison Farrow was frozen and shipped to Paris to treat her brother Matt Farrow. Over the decades since then, Broxmeyer’s laboratory has demonstrated that cryopreserved cord blood is still viable after 5, 10, 15, and 23.5 years in frozen storage. Dr. Hal Broxmeyer passed away in 2021, but his laboratory team has continued his work and in summer 2023 they published a demonstration that cryopreserved cord blood is still viable after 27 years in frozen storage. The existing research shows that when cord blood is properly cryopreserved, it does not seem to age at all. In Nov. 2018, Australia’s BMDI public cord blood bank announced that they had successfully transplanted a leukemia patient with a donor cord blood unit that had been in storage for 20 years. In May 2023, it was reported at the 10th Cord Blood Conference of the China Maternal and Child Health Association that a young adult in China had been cured of aplastic anemia with their own cord blood that had been in storage for 19 years. Before cord blood banking was invented, scientists were already cryopreserving cells for the purpose of animal husbandry, where it is desirable to save semen from high value studs. The record for the oldest cryopreserved sperm to yield live births is held by sheep that were conceived with semen that had been frozen at Australia’s Sydney Institute of Agriculture for 50 years. Their laboratory reported that the live birth rate from the half-century-old sperm was equivalent to sperm that had been in storage for one year. The human record for live births from cryopreserved sperm is held by twins that were conceived through in vitro fertilization using semen that had be stored for 40 years. To conclude, researchers agree that properly cryopreserved stem cells are effectively immortal. To learn more about cord blood banking, visit Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Foundation at https://parentsguidecordblood.org/en/news/how-long-can-cord-blood-be-stored
Dear parents, customers of Biohellenika
We receive phone calls from parents who cryopreserved their children's tooth stem cells at Biohellenika’s laboratories and their children have reached the age of 18. You are asking us if a new contract needs to be signed by your children, because they have reached the age of majority. According to the contract that parents have signed, after the child turns 18 the ownership of the contract is transferred entirely to the child and no new contract needs to be signed. The contract is valid for 20 years, from the day the stem cells are cryopreserved and will be renewed by the child himself at the end of 20 year storage.
On behalf of Biohellenika AE
Dr K Kouzi-Koliakou MD, PhD
Medical Director of Biohellenika
Does young blood hold the fountain of youth? Can transfusions of blood from younger donors reverse or slow down the aging process in an older recipient?
2022 Update: How many clinical trials use cord blood or cord tissue? August 2022 Frances Verter, PhD
Source # Cumulative Trials Advanced Cell Therapy through end of 2021 # Recruiting Trials Any Therapy June 2022 Cord Blood 276 110 Cord Tissue 464 n/a Other Perinatal 151 n/a
From the beginning of advanced cell therapy with cord blood until the end of 2021, 276 cord blood clinical trials have been registered worldwide. We checked the status of these trials in June 2022 and found that 110 cord blood trials, both advanced therapy and traditional transplants, are recruiting at 281 locations. We have updated our portal of recruiting cord blood trials to enable patients and their families to look up these recruiting trials by the diagnosis treated. We have also updated our statistics on advanced cell therapy with cord tissue, as well as other perinatal sources such as the placenta and amniotic membrane. Cumulatively through the end of 2021, there have been 464 trials with cord tissue alone and 151 trials with other perinatal tissues and combinations of perinatal tissues. Annual numbers of trials with cord tissue have grown more than four-fold over the time span from 2015 to 2020. In 2021 there were 30 trials registered for cord blood and 96 for cord tissue. We have not updated our portal of recruiting cord tissue trials because it has simply become too time consuming to check the status of so many trials. To learn more about cord blood banking, visit Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Foundation at https://parentsguidecordblood.org/en/news/2022-update-how-many-clinical-trials-use-cord-blood-or-cord-tissue
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