Cancer treatment

Isabella · New User Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Posts: 5

I have a niece who was just diagnosed with leukemia. I’m currently pregnant and my husband and I have discussed cord blood banking and now we are seriously considering it to help treat my niece. Does anyone know more about cord blood banking and what it might do to help my family?

brainman · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 11:06 pm Post subject: Re: Cancer treatment

Hi Isabella,

Your posts have been read literally hundreds of times. I am sorry that no one has been able to help you.

Have you talked to your own doctor about it? That would be my best suggestion.
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Site Administrator and long-term cancer survivor
1992 Astrocytoma grade 2, left motor strip
2005 Recurrence this time said to be an Oligodendoglioma grade 3, same location.
My Story Part 1: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?p=7350
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rlee · Site Admin Joined: 15 Jan 2006 Posts: 245

Cord blood contains very early bone marrow cells which later on help produce blood cells. Blood normally contains three types of cells - white (immune system related0, red, and platelets. The interesting thing about cord blood is that it really hasn't formed an identity yet, so it is possible to transplant these into other individuals with less of an immune response. Just as you cannot give a blood transfusion unless it is a match (type A blood to a person with type B), an bone marrow transplant can't be given to someone without an HLA match. HLA is a fancy way of saying personal identity. Because cord blood is very immature, it can be given to inviduals without having to really match the HLA or identity markers.

If your baby was to have the unfortunate and rare disease such as leukemia, the cord could be used for a bone marrow transplant. Also, this cord could be used by other family members and even other individuals. Whether or not to save the cord blood is a complicated personal decision. I suggest talking with your medical team and reading on the topic. Here are some links for starters.

http://leukemia.acor.org/cord.html
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/bone-marrow-transplant

RLee, MD
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RLee, MD

Any information provided is NOT intended to provide specific medical advice to users but rather to provide users with information to help them better understand their health condition and related care. All readers are strongly encouraged to consult with a qualified physician for answers to their personal medical questions.

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