In the past 12 months, cord blood once again made many medical advances. Today, the list of diseases that can be treated with cord blood includes over 80 diseases. If you are a parent who has stored cord blood stem cells for your child(ren) or are considering storing cord blood in the future, there is even more exciting news. This past year gave rise to a significant amount of research into cord blood stem cells as a regenerative therapy, positioning it as a possible viable treatment for a variety of autoimmune, neurological, and metabolic disorders, diseases and injuries.

As a result, the number of cord blood units released by ViaCord for medical application grew significantly. By year end, more than 175 units total had been released. Of the 43 units released in 2009, 74% of them were used to treat patients participating in clinical research.

A recent news report from an ABC news affiliate  highlighted some of the recent medical advancements being made using cord blood as a regenerative therapy.

A summary of 2009 highlights include:

• Recent research from the Salk Institute  has shown that cord blood stem cells can be reverted to a state similar to embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are highly valued because they have the ability to generate all cell types within the human body. But they carry significant ethical and political debate, and scientific access is limited. In the Salk Institute’s research, cord blood stem cells can be “reprogrammed” to an embryonic-like state, which could make cord blood induced pluripotent stem cells (CBiPS) the gold standard in stem cell therapies. As a result, cord blood stem cells hold remarkable potential for regenerative medicine—helping the body repair and regrow cells and tissues that may be damaged by trauma or disease.
•  The University of Florida  launched Phase II of a clinical trial examining the use of cord blood stem cells to treat Type I diabetes, and preliminary conclusions suggest that cord blood stem cells may produce new insulin-making cells in the body and slow the progression of Type I diabetes.
• Cerebral palsy (CP)—a chronic condition that affects the body’s motor control. Currently, Duke University is conducting a study where early results suggest that children with CP who are reinfused with their own cord blood stem cells experience improvement in their condition. Several ViaCord families have participated in this trial.  

           Read Lillian’s story. Or watch a video about one family’s hope for their daughter, Cady.

As clinical research using cord blood as a regenerative therapy expands, ViaCord remains at the forefront. With continued publicity around the early success of cord blood as an emerging regenerative therapy, more families are becoming aware of new options to treat family members today—and recognizing the amazing potential cord blood holds for the future of medical advancement.

We at ViaCord are very excited about these many advances in cord blood therapy and look forward to another great year! Stay tuned!

To automatically receive our blog posts, sign-up to receive e-mail or register for our RSS feed.