News & Events | Newsline Newsletter: Recognition and Funding Spurg Growth of Cord Blood Program

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in November funded sixumbilical cord blood banks to begin collections for the National CordBlood Inventory (NCBI). With thatone action, the federal governments imultaneously recognized thenational registry’s value, and rewarded the best programs.

Among them is Puget Sound BloodCenter’s Cord Blood Program, managed by Northwest Tissue Services.

The federal agency’s selectivity indetermining the awards confirms the high quality of the Cord Blood Program. The funds ensure the continuation of our efforts to help build the ethnic diversity of cord blood units inthe national registry. Both factors inevitably benefit the people of theregion.

On a broader scale, HRSA’s funding not only bolsters the use of cord blood stem cells as a suitable alternative to bone marrow transplants, but also ensures their safety and effectiveness.

Strength in Diversity
As for the Cord Blood Program’sinventory, its diversity is in large part aresult of our long standing partnership with the Hawaii Cord Blood Bank and its director, Randal Wada, M.D. In fact, it was Dr. Wada’s enthusiasm that supported the establishment of the program more than nine years ago.

The partnership has enabled the Cord Blood Program to stand out among other American banks due to the various ethnicities of its collectedcord blood units. The donor population in Hawaii is unique in its high percentage of people with Asian andPacific Islander heritage, addingminority units to the national inventory, and provides a greater likelihood of finding matching blood stem cellsfor recipients in those communities.

Give Life Twice
In January, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) drew a very distinct line between public and private cord blood banks.

The AAP concluded that there is no scientific evidence to justify parents paying a private bank to store cord blood as “biological insurance” against disease in their newborn’s future.

(In fact, in some cases, one’s own stored cordblood is unlikely to be useful. In children with leukemia, for instance, the immune system houses the defective cells. Those cells would likely be pre-ent in the stored cord blood.)

Instead, the pediatric group encouraged families to donate umbilical cord blood to public banks — such as the Cord Blood Program here — that make it available to be used by anyone in need. A donated unit has a much higher likelihood of being used than a privately banked one.

“The numbers are growing for cord blood transplants,” says Doug Mora, the Tissue Center’s Cord Blood Program coordinator. “Cord blood is increasing the access to life-saving therapies for patients, because it does not have to match as closely as bone marrow and it is immediately available. Families who choose to donate their babies’ cord blood may actually give life twice.”

It’s fortunate for current and future patients, then, that the AAP’s endorsement of public cord blood banks, coupled with the government funding for NCBI institutions, has raised both the profile of cord blood donation and use, as well as the hopes of patients worldwide.

Among the First
In late January, the FDA recommended a less cumbersome yet stricter regulatory process for licensing cord blood banks. The Cord Blood Program was already well positioned for compliance.

Not only has the program achieved AABB accreditation and implemented the FDA’s required good tissue practices, but it also has had an unsurpassed quality assurance program as a result of leadership positions in national organizations.

Thomas Price, M.D., executive vice president and medical director of the Blood Center and Cord Blood Program, is a board member of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP); Margery Moogk, Northwest Tissue Services director, is the Secretary of the Board of Governors of the American Association of Tissue Banks; and Jo-Anna Reems, Ph.D, sits on the NMDP cord blood steering committee, is co-chair of the NMDP cord blood research committee, and is primary investigator of the C.W.Bill Young Transplantation Program.

Under their guidance, the Cord Blood Program has participated extensively with NMDP in developing quality assurance processes and standardization among public cord blood banks. Research here at the Blood Center is focusing on developing improved methods for evaluating the function of stem cells contained within cord blood, determining optimal storage conditions for cord blood, and ensuring that effective proficiency testing programsare implemented.

Use
Umbilical cord blood has been shown to contain a high concentration of blood stem cells that can be used to replenish bone marrow in patients who have blood-based diseases such as leukemia.

In addition to treating leukemia, blood stem cells can be used to help patients with aplastic anemia, Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, immune deficiency disorders, and many other serious diseases. Research into other uses of cord blood for sickle cell anemia, Hurler’s Syndrome and other disorders, show promise for the development of new applications.

Congress recognized the need to have a larger and more diverse national repository of cord blood units and made funds available through HRSA tosupport qualified cord blood banks. According to HRSA Administrator Betty Duke, this first year’scollections should help to add 10,500 new units of cord blood to the NCBI.

The overall target is 150,000 new units of high-quality cord blood collected from a broad variety of populations. Historically, it has been difficult to findsuitably matched adult bone marrow donors. Alarge cord blood inventory increases the potential that physicians worldwide will find matches for their patients.“

The use of cord blood as a cell source in blood and marrow transplantation is growing rapidly nationally and internationally,” says the BloodCenter’s Dr. Price. “The need is expected to grow approximately twenty percent per year over the next several years.”

The National Marrow Donor Program further predicts that this year, cord blood transplants will out pace bone marrow transplants for the first time ever.

Quality and Teamwork
Of approximately 30 cord blood banks nationwide, 15 applied for the HRSA funds. The Blood Center was among the six with existing quality systems that showed the capability to rapidly accumulate eligible units.“

Our Cord Blood Program has become a leader in cord blood banking with the help of many organizations, including the Hawaii Cord Blood Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Boeing, the medical centers and hospitals in Western Washington and Hawaii that collect the units, and many other generous donors,” emphasizes the Tissue Center’s Moogk.

“Since July of 2006, we’ve provided 46 units of cord blood for transplant – more than twice as many as in the entire previous year. Many lives have been saved, but that success is not ours alone. It is truly a team effort.”