Umbilical cord blood banks in the UK

doi:10.1136/bmj.323.7304.60

BMJ 2001;323:60-61 ( 14 July )

Editorials

Umbilical cord blood banks in the UK

Have proved their worth and now deserve a firmer foundation

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation has revolutionised the outcome for a wide range of malignant and non-malignant haematologicalconditions.¹ Of the sources of stem cells, umbilical cord blood,obtained from the placenta directly after delivery, is enrichedin stem cells and has a higher proliferative capacity than cellsobtained from bone marrow and peripheral blood. ² ³ Like anyblood product, however, stem cells from cord blood need an infrastructurefor collecting, banking, and matching thedonations.

Several cord blood banks and registries have been formed internationally (four of them in the United Kingdom) which collectthe cord blood products and perform cryopreservation, tissue typing,and viral assessment. These products can then be accessed aftera search of the internet linked databases and the cryopreservedproduct transported to the transplant centre foruse.

Marrow engraftment can occur quite quickly after infusion of cord blood, although it may be delayed in some instances $---$ this. . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Public-private partnership in cord blood banking: Nicholas M Fisk and Rifat Atun
BMJ 2008 336: 642-644. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Fisk, N. M, Atun, R. (2008). Public-private partnership in cord blood banking. BMJ 336: 642-644 [Full text]

Rapid Responses:

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True value of cord blood banks: Gareth Morgan
bmj.com, 1 Aug 2001 [Full text]
Do not discard 99.99%of the human placental umbilical cord blood for the sake of stem cells only: Niranjan Bhattacharya
bmj.com, 6 Oct 2001 [Full text]