Cord Blood and Tissue in the Treatment of Disease
Cord blood is used to treat nearly 80 diseases and conditions including numerous types of malignancies, anemias, inherited metabolic disorders and deficiencies of the immune system. It has saved thousands of lives around the world through more than 60,000 transplantations. The majority of these allogeneic cord blood transplantations have been performed in patients younger than 18 years of age; however, with advancements in regenerative medicine, it is foreseeable that individuals of all ages can benefit from this therapy in the near future. Transplantations are characterized as either autologous (cells of the donor) or allogeneic (cells of a matched sibling or other family member).
In addition to the proven treatments, researchers are looking into other diseases cord blood can treat. Promising research that could potentially impact a countless number of lives is being conducted in the treatment of autism, cerebral palsy, adult stroke and more. Below is a partial list of diseases currently being researched or treated using stem cells like those found in cord blood and cord tissue:
Diseases Treated by Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation
| Diagnosis |
Possible use by the baby (autologous) |
Possible use by sibling or other family member (allogeneic) |
Blood Cancers
(187,000 Diagnoses Each Year) |
| Acute Biphenotypic Leukemia |
|
✓ |
| Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) |
|
✓ |
| Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) |
|
✓ |
| Acute Undifferentiated Leukemia |
|
✓ |
| Adult T-Cell Leukemia/Lymphoma |
|
✓ |
| Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) |
|
✓ |
| Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) |
|
✓ |
| Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) |
|
✓ |
| Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia (CMML) |
|
✓ |
| Hodgkin Lymphoma |
|
✓ |
| Juvenile Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (JCML) |
|
✓ |
| Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML) |
|
✓ |
| Medulloblastoma |
✓ |
|
| Multiple Myeloma |
|
✓ |
| Neuroblastoma |
✓ |
|
| Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma |
|
✓ |
| Plasma Cell Leukemia |
✓ |
|
| Retinoblastoma |
✓ |
|
| Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia |
✓ |
|
| Blood Disorders |
| Acquired Aplastic Anemia |
|
✓ |
| Acute Myelofibrosis |
|
✓ |
| Agnogenic Myeloid Metaplasia |
|
✓ |
| Amegakaryocytosis / Congenital Thrombocytopenia |
|
✓ |
| Beta Thalassemia Major (also known as Cooley’s Anemia) |
|
✓ |
| Blackfan-Diamond Anemia |
|
✓ |
| Congenital Dyserythropoietic Anemia |
|
✓ |
| Fanconi Anemia |
|
✓ |
| Glanzmann Thrombasthenia |
|
✓ |
| Myelodysplastic Syndrome |
|
✓ |
| Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH) |
|
✓ |
| Polycythemia Vera |
|
✓ |
| Pure Red Cell Aplasia |
|
✓ |
| Refractory Anemia (RA) |
|
✓ |
| Refractory Anemia with Ringed Sideroblasts (RARS) |
|
✓ |
| Refractory Anemia with Excess Blasts (RAEB) |
|
✓ |
| Refractory Anemia with Excess Blasts in Transformation (RAEB-T) |
|
✓ |
| Sickle Cell Disease |
|
✓ |
| Immune Disorders |
| Ataxia–Telangiectasia |
✓ |
|
| Bare Lymphocyte Syndrome |
|
✓ |
| Cartilage–Hair Hypoplasia |
|
✓ |
| Chediak–Higashi Syndrome |
|
✓ |
| Chronic Granulomatous Disease |
|
✓ |
| Common Variable Immunodeficiency Syndrome |
|
✓ |
| Gunther’s Disease (Erythropoietic Porphyria) |
|
✓ |
| Hermansky–Pudlak Syndrome |
|
✓ |
| Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis |
|
✓ |
| Hemophagocytosis Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (Histiocytosis X) |
|
✓ |
| Infantile Genetic Agranulocytosis (Kostmann Syndrome) |
|
✓ |
| Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency |
|
✓ |
| Lymphoproliferative Disorders (LPD) |
|
✓ |
| Neutrophil Actin Deficiency |
|
✓ |
| Omenn Syndrome |
|
✓ |
| Pearson’s Syndrome |
|
✓ |
| Reticular Dysgenesis |
|
✓ |
| SCID with Adenosine Deaminase Deficiency (ADA-SCID) |
|
✓ |
| SCID with Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase Deficiency (PNP SCID) |
|
✓ |
| Shwachman–Diamond Syndrome |
|
✓ |
| Systemic Mastocytosis |
|
|
| Wiskott–Aldrich Syndrome |
|
✓ |
| Metabolic Disorders |
| Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD)/Adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN) |
|
✓ |
| Hunter’s Syndrome (MPS–II) |
|
✓ |
| Hurler’s Syndrome (MPS–IH) |
|
✓ |
| Krabbe Disease (Globoid Cell Leukodystrophy) |
|
✓ |
| Lesch–Nyhan Syndrome |
|
✓ |
| Maroteaux–Lamy Syndrome (MPS–VI) |
|
✓ |
| Metachromatic Leukodystrophy |
|
✓ |
| Mucolipidosis II (I–cell Disease) |
|
✓ |
| Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) |
|
✓ |
| Neuronal Ceroid Lipfuscinosis (Batten Disease) |
|
✓ |
| Niemann–Pick Disease |
|
✓ |
| Osteopetrosis |
|
✓ |
| Pelizaeus–Merzbacher Disease |
|
✓ |
| Sandhoff Disease |
|
✓ |
| Sanfilippo Syndrome (MPS–III) |
|
✓ |
| Sly Syndrome, Beta–Glucuronidase Deficiency (MPS–VII) |
|
✓ |
| Sly Syndrome (MPS-VIII) |
|
✓ |
| Tay–Sachs Disease |
|
✓ |
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General disclaimers:
The information provided above should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, and those seeking personal medical advice should consult with a licensed physician.
1) Cord blood use is determined by the physician and depends on the patient’s health, cord blood unit characteristics, and the donor match. While the use of cord blood in transplantation is well established, its regenerative medicine use is still being researched. No guarantees exist for future treatments currently under study.
2) Please be aware that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet granted approval for the clinical use of any products manufactured from cord tissue. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that any clinical applications using cord tissue will receive FDA approval in the future.