Attention: Expectant Parents
Cord blood banking is probably one of the most important long-term investments for your family's health. While it is crucial that your child's stem cells are processed and stored with the best methods possible, it is even more vital that you need a cord blood bank that would be with you for years to come, regardless of how uncertain times may be. 
During pregnancy, the umbilical cord functions as a lifeline between  mother and child. Years later, the blood present within the umbilical  cord could offer hope for the child or other individuals in the family.
The umbilical cord blood is a rich source of haematopoietic stem  cells (HSCs); cells responsible for replenishing blood and regenerating  the immune system. HSCs are known as 'precursor cells', as they have the  unique ability to differentiate into the different types of cells found  in the body, namely:
- Red Blood Cells - which transport oxygen
- White Blood Cells - which produce antibodies and fight bacteria
- Platelets - which assist blood clotting 
Since 1988, UCB stem cells have been used to treat an increasing  number of diseases. Today, this numbers more than 80, including blood  and metabolic disorders, immunodeficiency ailments and autoimmune  diseases. For a full list of treatable diseases, 
 click here. When transplanted into a patient, the haematopoietic stem cells  (HSCs) migrate to the bone marrow and produce new blood cells, boosting  the immune system. With the rapid advances in technology, the number of  diseases treated by stem cell therapies is expected to increase.
Advantages of storing UCB stem cells are:
- A guaranteed match for autologous transplants (where the donor and recipient are the same individual) 
- A readily available supply of stored HSCs. This compares well to  having to do a national or international search which is costly and  time-consuming in an already time critical situation. 
- Lower risk of Graft vs. Host Disease for autologous transplants,  a situation where the transplanted tissue attacks the patients own  tissue. 
- Ease of collection, which is pain-free and risk-free to both mother and child. 
- UCB stem cells are more vigorous, have a higher rate of  engraftment and are more tolerant to tissue mismatches, compared to  other types of stem cells, e.g. bone marrow.
The main intention for a stem cell transplant is the need to  reconstitute a patient's blood and immune system, following treatments  such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy, which destroys the blood cells.  The HSCs are infused directly into the patient's blood stream, and  subsequently migrate to the bone marrow.
Within the bone marrow environment, the HSCs are able to begin their  differentiation into the three types of blood cells, thereby initiating  the regeneration of the patient's blood and immune system.
The first umbilical cord blood transplant was performed in 1988 and  resulted in the successful treatment of a 5-year old boy diagnosed with  Fanconi Anaemia. To date there have been more than 14000 umbilical cord  blood stem cell transplants reported worldwide.
List 1: DISEASES TREATED BY STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION
Malignant diseases (cancers):
- Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia
- Acute Myelocytic Leukemia
- Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia
- Chronic Myelogeneous Leukemia 
- Juvenile Chronic Myelogeneous Leukemia
- Juvenile Mono-Myelocytic  Leukemia
- Myeloid/Natural  Killer (NK) Cell Precursor Acute Leukemia 
- Myelodysplastic syndromes
- Refractory anemia
- Refractory anemia with ringed sideroblasts
- Refractory anemia with excess blasts
- Refractory anemia with excess blasts in transformation
- Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia
- Neuroblastoma 
- Polymphocytic  Leukemia 
Non-malignant diseases (such as inherited metabolic  storage disorders, immune system disorders etc):
- Agnogenic myeloid metaplasia  (also called Myelofibrosis)
- Amegakaryocytic Thrombocytopenia
- Blackfan-Diamond Syndrome
- Cerebral X-linked Adrenoleukodystrophy  (ALD)
- Dyskeratosis Congenita
- Evans syndrome
- Familial Erythrophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis
- Fanconi’s Anemia
- Globoid Cell Leukodystrophy (also  called Krabbe disease)
- Gunther Disease
- Hurler Syndrome 
- Kostmann Syndrome
- Lesch Nyhan Syndrome
- Maroteaux-Lamy Syndrome
- Osteopetrosis
- Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria 
- Pure Red Cell Aplasia
- Purine Nucleotide Phosphorylase  Deficiency
- Reticular Dysgenesis 
- Severe Aplastic Anemia
- Severe Combined Immune Deficiency  (SCID)
- SCID with absence of T & B  cells
- SCID with absence of T cells,  normal B cells
- Combined Immmunodeficiency
- Common Variable  Immunodeficiency
- Sickle Cell Anemia 
- Thalassemia (Major)
- Thymic Dysplasia
- Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome
- X-linked Lymphoproliferative Syndrome
- X-linked HyperIgM syndrome
List 2: ADDITIONAL DISEASES TREATED BY STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION  (2002-2004)
Malignant diseases:
- Lymphomas:       
- Burkitt’s Lymphoma
- Hodgkin’s Disease
- Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
- Multiple Myeloma
Non-malignant diseases:
- (Alpha-)Mannosidosis
- Aspartylglycoasminuria
- Bare Lymphocyte Syndrome
- Chediak-Higashi Syndrome 
- Chronic Granulomatous Disease
- Congenital Neutropenia
- DiGeorge Syndrome
- Histiocytosis X (also called  Langerhans’ Cell Histiocytosis)
- Hurler-Scheie Syndrome
- Gangliosidosis
- Glanzmann's  Thrombasthenia 
- Omenn Syndrome
- Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency 
- Mucolipidosis II (I cell  disease)
- Metachromatic leukodystrophy 
- Neuronal/Infantile  Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (also called Batten Disease) 
- Nezelof Syndrome
- Sialidosis
- Shwachman–Diamond  syndrome 
- Sly Syndrome
- Tay-Sachs Syndrome
- Wolman Disease
List 3: ADDITIONAL DISEASES TREATED BY STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION  (2006-2007)
Malignant diseases:
- Acute Biphenotypic Leukemia*
- Acute Undifferentiated  Leukemia* 
- Mantle  Cell Lymphoma 
Other  malignancies:
- Brain  tumour* 
- Ewing  Sarcoma* 
- Ovarian  Cancer* 
- Renal  Cell Carcinoma* 
- Rhabdomyosarcoma 
- Small  Cell Lung Cancer* 
- Testicular  Cancer* 
Non-malignant diseases:
- Rescue  after autologous bone marrow transplant failure 
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus 
- Amyloidosis 
- Congenital  Amegakaryocytic Thrombocytopenia 
- Congenital Cytopenia*
- Congenital  Dyserythropoietic Anemia 
- Griscelli Syndrome
- Idiopathic  Thrombocytopenic Purpura 
- Polycythemia Vera* 
- Fucosidosis
- Gaucher’s Disease*
- Niemann-Pick Disease*
- Sandhoff  Disease* 
- SCID with Adenosine Deaminase  Deficiency*
- Thrombocytopenia 
- Nijmegen  Breakage Syndrome 
- Chronic  Active Epstein Barr (resulting in lymphoproliferative disease) 
- X-linked  Immune Dysregulation Polyendocrine Enteropathy 
- Multiple  Sclerosis * 
- Rheumatoid  Arthritis* 
- Type 1 Diabetes* 
- Cerebral palsy*
*Part of ongoing  clinical trials in the U.S. (refer to www.clinicaltrials.gov for more info). 
References:
- Raetz  et al., BMT, 1997
- Shaw  et al., Pediatric Transplantation, 1999
- S.  J. Fasouliotis, J.G. Schenker / European  Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology  and Reproductive Biology, 2000
- Ballen  et al., BBMT, 2001
- Gluckman  et al., Exp Hematol., 2004
- Martin  et al., BBMT, 2004
- Gluckman  and Wagner, BMT, 2008
- www.marrow.org
- www.cordblood.com
- www.nationalcordbloodprogram.org  
Banking cord blood does not guarantee that the cells will provide a  cure or be applicable in every situation. Use will be ultimately  determined by the treating physician.
Last update 4th Aug 2011.   
Studies have shown that cord blood stem cells can also be used for  siblings and other members of your family who have a matching tissue  type. Siblings have up to a 75% chance of compatibility, and the cord  blood may even be a match for parents (50%) and grandparents.
Cord blood stem cells are currently used in the treatment of several  life-threatening diseases, and play an important role in the treatment  of blood and immune system related genetic diseases, cancers, and blood disorders

|   | Saving our first-born's cord blood stem cells was a no-brainer for  my husband and me. As new parents we want to be able to provide the best  options we can for Noah; we'd also like to try and start preparing for  his future. Cord blood banking does both for us. We don't know if or  when we'll be needing the stored cord blood stem cells, but it gives us a  sense of security and peace that, should we ever need it, the best  solutions are available to us. 
 We chose CordLife for 2 reasons – their service quality and the fact  that they have a facility in Manila. It just made a lot more sense to us  and we're so happy we did it!
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 | Gillian Akiko Thomson-Guevara 3-time Olympian, gold medalist SEA Games and entrepreneur
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Type 1 diabetes
A clinical trial underway at the University of Florida is examining  how an infusion of autologous cord blood stem cells into children with  Type 1 diabetes will impact metabolic control over time, as compared to  standard insulin treatments. Preliminary results demonstrate that an  infusion of cord blood stem cells is safe and may provide some slowing  of the loss of insulin production in children with type 1 diabetes
 
 
|   | Cord blood banking was a completely new concept to me when I had my  first child, but I had read up on it due to the fact that my mom was  diagnosed with stage 3b cancer the year prior to my pregnancy – and I  wanted to do my tiny part in perhaps saving a family member’s life down  the line. With percentages high on potentially saving lives within my  family – I knew that I wanted to do this for those I love more than life  itself. |  | 
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 | Lexi Schulze Berenguer-Testa TV Host and Magazine Editor
 | 
Singapore Storage Facility
Singapore is an ideal long-term storage place for your baby's cord  blood unit because of its natural disaster-free location, political and  socio-economic stability. Located in Singapore Science Park II, our cord  blood processing laboratory is housed in the most prestigious research  and development (R&D) and technology hub in the country. 
Our AABB accredited facility is well equipped with 24/7 backup  systems, which are further enhanced with remote alarm to alert our staff  via phone if anything is amiss. Our equipment, critical materials and  services also undergo stringent testing and certification regularly.
Your baby's cord blood will be stored in fire retardant and vacuum  insulated double hull nitrogen tanks which can remain at optimal  temperature for more than two weeks without replenishing liquid  nitrogen. 
As Singapore is geographically small and free from natural disasters,  there is no real need to store your baby's cord blood in different  locations. This unnecessary location transfer will only heighten the  risks of exposing your baby's cord blood to heat, resulting in cellular  damage and sample mix-up. It is CordLife's lifelong commitment to  safeguard your baby's cord blood unit under the best storage conditions  in the most secure and safest location in Singapore.
CordLife Singapore's AABB accredited facility 
Philippines Storage Facility
Located in UP-Ayalaland Technohub in Metro Manila,  Philippines’  first and only cord blood processing and storage facility was officially  inaugurated on 23 February 2010. This world-class facility is  registered with the Department of Health and is built in accordance with  global gold standards such as the American Association of Blood Banks  and ISO. The facility operates 365 days a year and offers the world’s  only fully automated cord blood processing system, SEPAX, with a storage  capacity for more than 20,000 cord blood units.
 
     
"CordLife's latest cord blood processing and storage facility in the  Philippines marks another regional expansion milestone for the company.   Focusing on high quality services, CordLife has been investing in  various innovations to ensure that it provides value-added services to  all its customers.  SPRING will continue to partner CordLife in its  journey to enhance capabilities for greater growth locally and  regionally," said Ms Samantha Su, Deputy Director of Services &  Biomedical and International Partnership Office, SPRING Singapore. 
                                                Photo courtesy of Aidea Philippines, Inc.
CordLife Limited is a leading healthcare company that provides a full  suite of cord blood and tissue banking services to expectant parents for  the collection, processing and cryopreservation of cord blood stem  cells and umbilical cord tissue. The Company is dedicated to offering  the highest possibility of successful adult stem cell therapy to give  hope and save lives. Listed on the Australian Securities Exchange,  CordLife Limited is well established as the largest network of private  stem cell banks across Asia Pacific with state-of-the-art cord blood and  tissue processing and cryopreservation facilities in India, Indonesia  and the Philippines as well as a network that extends to Singapore, Hong  Kong, and China Safe and secure processing and storage facility equipped with 24/7  laboratory monitoring technology
Call  (02) 710-9195 to find out about their flexible payment plans.