Diseases Treated with Stem Cells

The following is a list of some of the diseases that have been treated with cord blood and other sources of similar type of stem cells (Haematopoietic Stem Cell), like bone marrow and peripheral blood. Stem cell therapies continue to change and evolve quickly.

1. BLOOD CANCERS

LEUKAEMIA

• Acute Biphenotypic Leukaemia
• Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia
• Acute Myelogenous Leukaemia
• Acute Undifferentiated Leukaemia
• Chronic Myelogenous Leukaemia
• Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia
• Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukaemia
• Juvenile Chronic Myelogenous Leukaemia

MYELOPROLIFERATIVE NEOPLASMS

• Acute Myelofibrosis
• Agnogenic Myeloid Metaplasia
• Essential Thrombocythemia
• Polycythemia Vera

MYELODYSPLASTIC SYNDROMES

• Refractory Anaemia
• Refractory Anaemia with Excess Blasts
• Refractory Anaemia with Excess Blasts in Transformation
• Refractory Anaemia with Ringed Sideroblasts (Sideroblastic Anaemia)
• Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukaemia

OTHER BLOOD CANCERS

• Multiple Myeloma
• Plasma Cell Leukaemia
• Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia
• Histiocytic Neoplasms

2. SOLID TUMORS

• Hodgkin Lymphoma
• Langerhans' Cell Histiocytosis
• Neuroblastoma
• Non Hodgkin Lymphoma (Burkitt’s Lymphoma)
• Retinoblastoma
• Medulloblastoma
• Wilms Tumor

3. NON MALIGNANT BLOOD DISORDERS

ANAEMIAS (DEFICIENCIES OR MALFORMATIONS OF RED CELLS)

• Aplastic Anaemia
• Congenital Dyserythropoietic Anaemia
• Fanconi’s Anaemia
• Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria

HEREDITARY BONE MARROW FAILURE SYNDROMES

• Diamond Blackfan Syndrome
• Dyskeratosis Congenita
• Pearson’s Syndrome
• Shwachman Diamond Syndrome

INHERITED RED CELL ABNORMALITIES

• Pure Red Cell Aplasia
• Sickle Cell Anaemia
• Beta Thalassemia Major/Cooley’s Anaemia

INHERITED PLATELET ABNORMALITIES

• Congenital Amegakaryocytosis Thrombocytopenia
• Glanzmann’s Thrombasthenia

4. IMMUNE DISORDERS

SEVERE COMBINED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY (SCID)

• Bare Lymphocyte Syndrome
• Omenn Syndrome
• Reticular Dysgenesis
• Neutrophil Actin Deficiency
• SCID with Adenosine Deaminase Deficiency (ADA SCID)
• SCID which is X linked
• SCID with absence of T & B Cells
• SCID with absence of T Cells, Normal B Cells

NEUTROPENIAS

• Kostmann Syndrome (Infantile Genetic Agranulocytosis)
• Myelokathexis

PHAGOCYTE DISORDERS

• Chediak Higashi Syndrome
• Chronic Granulomatous Disease

INHERITED DISORDERS OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM & OTHER ORGANS

• Cartilage Hair Hypoplasia
• Gunther’s Disease (Congenital Erythropoietic Protoporphyria)
• Systemic Mastocytosis

OTHER INHERITED IMMUNE SYSTEM DISORDERS

• Common Variable Immunodeficiency
• DiGeorge Syndrome
• Evans Syndrome
• Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis
• IKK Gamma Deficiency (NEMO Deficiency)
• IPEX Syndrome
• Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency
• Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome
• X linked Lymphoproliferative Disease (Duncan’s Syndrome)
• X linked Hyper IgM Syndrom
• Ataxia-Telangiectasia

5. METABOLIC DISORDERS

LEUKODYSTROPHY DISORDERS

• Adrenoleukodystrophy
• Krabbe Disease (Globoid Cell Leukodystrophy)
• Metachromatic leukodystrophy
• Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease

LYSOSOMAL STORAGE DISEASES

• Alpha Mannosidosis
• Gaucher’s Disease
• Niemann Pick Disease
• Sandhoff Disease
• Wolman Disease

MUCOPOLYSACCHARIDOSIS (MPS) STORAGE DISEASES

• Hunter Syndrome
• Hurler Syndrome
• Maroteaux Lamy Syndrome
• Mucolipidosis II (I-cell Disease)
• Morquio Syndrome
• Sanfilippo Syndrome
• Scheie Syndrome
• Sly Syndrome (beta glucuronidase deficiency)

OTHER METABOLIC DISORDERS

• Lesch–Nyhan Syndrome
• Osteopetrosis
• Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome

Banking cord blood does not guarantee that the cells will provide a cure or be applicable in every situation. Use will be ultimately determined by the treating physician.

Clinical Trials

With the advancement of stem cell* research, the potential for future use of stem cell grows.

Below is a list of diseases currently under clinical trials. These are diseases for which stem cell* treatments appear to be beneficial, but have not been adopted as standard therapy. For some of these diseases, stem cell transplants only slow the progression of the disease, but do not produce a cure. For other diseases, stem cell treatments may help effect a cure, but further research is needed to determine the best candidate patients for stem cell therapy, the optimum stem cell dosage, the optimum method of cell delivery, etc.

For some patients, clinical research trials are an alternative avenue for receiving new and promising therapies that would otherwise be unavailable. Patients with difficult-to-treat or ‘incurable’ diseases, such as HIV or certain types of cancer, may choose to participate in clinical research trials should standard therapies prove to be ineffective. Clinical research trials are sometimes lifesaving.

For the latest information, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov

• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
• Autism
• Brain Tumour
• Cardiomyopathy
• Cartilage repair
• Cerebral palsy
• Cleft Palate Repair (Alveolar)
• Compartment Syndrome (Battlefield Trauma)
• Critical Limb Ischemia
• Crohn's disease
• Diabetes Type 1
• Epidermolysis Bullosa
• Ewing Sarcoma
• Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD)
• Hearing Loss (acquired sensorineural)
• HIV
• Huntington’s Disease
• Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
• Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
• Ischemic Heart Disease
• Ischemic Stroke
• Kidney plus stem cell transplant
• Liver cirrhosis
• Lupus
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Myocardial Infarction
• Open cardiac surgery for congenital heart diseases
• Ovarian Cancer (Link to clinical trials)
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Rhabdomyosarcoma
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Scleroderma
• Spinal cord injury
• Testicular Tumour
• Tissue Engineered Vascular Grafts for cardiac defects
• Traumatic Brain Injury

Reference:

• Cord Blood Registry Website 3 August 2011
• Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Foundation 20 March 2014
• National Marrow Donor Program 3 August 2011
• Clinical Trials 3 August 2011
• MedicineNet, 2012. Definition of Clinical Trials, 1 February 2014
• Diseases treated page. Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Foundation. Accessed Dec 2015.
• Stem cell treatment page. Cord Blood Registry Website. Accessed Dec 2015
• Clincial trial registry page. ClinicalTrials.gov. Accessed Dec 2015.

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Top Reasons why you should Preserve Baby's Stem Cell?

Stem cells are valuable as they are the original building blocks of human body, which in return gives stem cells the potential to cure diseases and damaged functions.

Here are top reasons why you should protect your baby’s stem cell.

1. One in every 200 people may need to use his or her stem cells in a lifetime.
2. One of the top 10 common cancers in India, Non-Hodgkins’s lymphoma, is a stem cell treatable disease.
3. Two of the top 5 most common childhood cancers in India, leukaemia & lymphoma, are treatable with stem cells.
4. 60% higher chance of locating a matching cord blood unit in the family versus bone marrow.
5. In the case of cellular stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine, only the parent’s own stem cells can be used in the stem cell treatment in India for best results. Clinical trial for Autism is the latest development.
6. A readily available supply of stored haematopoietic stem cells. This compares well to having to do a national or international search which is costly & time-consuming in an already crisis situation.
7. No risk of Graft vs. Host disease for autologous transplants, a situation where the transplanted tissue attacks the patient’s own tissue.
8. Umbilical cord blood stem cells are younger, and are more tolerant to tissue mismatches, compared to other types of stem cells, e.g. bone marrow.
9. Cord blood stem cell India are used to treat nearly 80 debilitating diseases.
10. Child’s cord blood stem cells also have a 25% chance of a perfect match for a sibling and a 50% chance for a partial match.
11. Cord blood stem cells are rarely contaminated with latent viruses, which results in better acceptance by the body than stem cells from bone marrow.

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About stem cell banking and uses with small video

A small demo about stem cell banking.

with us

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What are the unique properties of all stem cells?

Stem cells differ from other kinds of cells in the body. All stem cells—regardless of their source—have three general properties: they are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods; they are unspecialized; and they can give rise to specialized cell types.

Stem cells are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods. Unlike muscle cells, blood cells, or nerve cells—which do not normally replicate themselves—stem cells may replicate many times, or proliferate. A starting population of stem cells that proliferates for many months in the laboratory can yield millions of cells. If the resulting cells continue to be unspecialized, like the parent stem cells, the cells are said to be capable of long-term self-renewal.

Scientists are trying to understand two fundamental properties of stem cells that relate to their long-term self-renewal:

1. Why can embryonic stem cells proliferate for a year or more in the laboratory without differentiating, but most adult stem cells cannot; and
2. What are the factors in living organisms that normally regulate stem cell proliferation and self-renewal?

Discovering the answers to these questions may make it possible to understand how cell proliferation is regulated during normal embryonic development or during the abnormal cell division that leads to cancer. Such information would also enable scientists to grow embryonic and non-embryonic stem cells more efficiently in the laboratory.

The specific factors and conditions that allow stem cells to remain unspecialized are of great interest to scientists. It has taken scientists many years of trial and error to learn to derive and maintain stem cells in the laboratory without them spontaneously differentiating into specific cell types. For example, it took two decades to learn how to grow human embryonic stem cells in the laboratory following the development of conditions for growing mouse stem cells. Likewise, scientists must first understand the signals that enable a non-embryonic (adult) stem cell population to proliferate and remain unspecialized before they will be able to grow large numbers of unspecialized adult stem cells in the laboratory.

Stem cells are unspecialized. One of the fundamental properties of a stem cell is that it does not have any tissue-specific structures that allow it to perform specialized functions. For example, a stem cell cannot work with its neighbors to pump blood through the body (like a heart muscle cell), and it cannot carry oxygen molecules through the bloodstream (like a red blood cell). However, unspecialized stem cells can give rise to specialized cells, including heart muscle cells, blood cells, or nerve cells.

Stem cells can give rise to specialized cells. When unspecialized stem cells give rise to specialized cells, the process is called differentiation. While differentiating, the cell usually goes through several stages, becoming more specialized at each step. Scientists are just beginning to understand the signals inside and outside cells that trigger each step of the differentiation process. The internal signals are controlled by a cell's genes, which are interspersed across long strands of DNA and carry coded instructions for all cellular structures and functions. The external signals for cell differentiation include chemicals secreted by other cells, physical contact with neighboring cells, and certain molecules in the microenvironment. The interaction of signals during differentiation causes the cell's DNA to acquire epigenetic marks that restrict DNA expression in the cell and can be passed on through cell division.

Many questions about stem cell differentiation remain. For example, are the internal and external signals for cell differentiation similar for all kinds of stem cells? Can specific sets of signals be identified that promote differentiation into specific cell types? Addressing these questions may lead scientists to find new ways to control stem cell differentiation in the laboratory, thereby growing cells or tissues that can be used for specific purposes such as cell-based therapies or drug screening.

Adult stem cells typically generate the cell types of the tissue in which they reside. For example, a blood-forming adult stem cell in the bone marrow normally gives rise to the many types of blood cells. It is generally accepted that a blood-forming cell in the bone marrow—which is called a hematopoietic stem cell—cannot give rise to the cells of a very different tissue, such as nerve cells in the brain. Experiments over the last several years have purported to show that stem cells from one tissue may give rise to cell types of a completely different tissue. This remains an area of great debate within the research community. This controversy demonstrates the challenges of studying adult stem cells and suggests that additional research using adult stem cells is necessary to understand their full potential as future therapies.

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What is stem cells and why are they important

Introduction:

Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. In addition, in many tissues they serve as a sort of internal repair system, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential either to remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.

Stem cells are distinguished from other cell types by two important characteristics. First, they are unspecialized cells capable of renewing themselves through cell division, sometimes after long periods of inactivity. Second, under certain physiologic or experimental conditions, they can be induced to become tissue- or organ-specific cells with special functions. In some organs, such as the gut and bone marrow, stem cells regularly divide to repair and replace worn out or damaged tissues. In other organs, however, such as the pancreas and the heart, stem cells only divide under special conditions.

Until recently, scientists primarily worked with two kinds of stem cells from animals and humans: embryonic stem cells and non-embryonic "somatic" or "adult" stem cells. The functions and characteristics of these cells will be explained in this document. Scientists discovered ways to derive embryonic stem cells from early mouse embryos more than 30 years ago, in 1981. The detailed study of the biology of mouse stem cells led to the discovery, in 1998, of a method to derive stem cells from human embryos and grow the cells in the laboratory. These cells are called human embryonic stem cells. The embryos used in these studies were created for reproductive purposes through in vitro fertilization procedures. When they were no longer needed for that purpose, they were donated for research with the informed consent of the donor. In 2006, researchers made another breakthrough by identifying conditions that would allow some specialized adult cells to be "reprogrammed" genetically to assume a stem cell-like state. This new type of stem cell, called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), will be discussed in a later section of this document.

Stem cells are important for living organisms for many reasons. In the 3- to 5-day-old embryo, called a blastocyst, the inner cells give rise to the entire body of the organism, including all of the many specialized cell types and organs such as the heart, lungs, skin, sperm, eggs and other tissues. In some adult tissues, such as bone marrow, muscle, and brain, discrete populations of adult stem cells generate replacements for cells that are lost through normal wear and tear, injury, or disease.

Given their unique regenerative abilities, stem cells offer new potentials for treating diseases such as diabetes, and heart disease. However, much work remains to be done in the laboratory and the clinic to understand how to use these cells for cell-based therapies to treat disease, which is also referred to as regenerative or reparative medicine.

Laboratory studies of stem cells enable scientists to learn about the cells’ essential properties and what makes them different from specialized cell types. Scientists are already using stem cells in the laboratory to screen new drugs and to develop model systems to study normal growth and identify the causes of birth defects.

Research on stem cells continues to advance knowledge about how an organism develops from a single cell and how healthy cells replace damaged cells in adult organisms. Stem cell research is one of the most fascinating areas of contemporary biology, but, as with many expanding fields of scientific inquiry, research on stem cells raises scientific questions as rapidly as it generates new discoveries.

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