Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplant – Proven method to cure Leukemia What is Leukemia? Leukemia is a cancer of blood cells, which involves multiplication of malignant White Blood Cells (WBCs). These abnormal cells do not function in the same way as normal WBCs, they continue to grow, divide and accumulate very quickly eventually crowding out the normal blood cells leading to difficulty for the body to fight infections, control bleeding, and transport oxygen.
Symptoms Tiredness, easy bruising, and susceptibility to infections are the major symptoms. Acute leukemia requires fast and aggressive treatment.
Prevalence of Leukemia in India In low- and middle-income countries, where 80% of children live, the 200,000 children diagnosed with cancer each year have limited access to curative treatment, and only about 25% survive. An estimated 67,870 deaths have resulted from blood cancer in 2015. According to a report from National Cancer Registry Program (NCRP), in India cancer is the 9th common cause of death among children between 5 to 14 years of age.
Tumor type in Childhood
AAR per million
(0-14 years)
Boys
Girls
Leukemia
35.7-61.3
22.3-40.2
Lymphoma
9.9-25.6
2.9-10.1
Central-nervous-system tumor
6.6-19.8
3.0-16.0
SNS tumor
1.5-12.6
1.8-5.3
Retinoblastoma
1.9-12.3
1.3-6.7
Renal tumor
3.1-9.5
1.8-7.0
Hepatic tumor
0.5-2.0
1.0-1.8
Bone tumor
2.8-9.0
2.3-6.2
Soft tissue Sarcoma
2.8-7.2
1.6-7.6
Germ cell tumor
1.3-12.9
0.2-1.3
Table 2: Childhood Cancer Incidence in India (AAR: Age-adjusted rates of incidence) (Data source: NCRP report)
Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplant – Cure for Leukemia Normal blood cells develop from stem cells that have the potential to regenerate and form many cell types. Cord blood for transplants is collected from the umbilical cord after a newborn baby is delivered. The stem cells from this cord blood are extracted in a Cell Processing Centre and preserved in -196ᵒ C liquid nitrogen tanks for future use.
Stem cell transplants which use the patient’s own stem cells are called “autologous transplants”. One can even use donor stem cells, they may come from either a related or unrelated matched donor, and this is called an “allogeneic transplant”. Most transplant physicians would not want to use a baby’s own cord blood to treat his or her leukemia. This is because donor stem cells might better fight the leukemia than the child’s own stem cells. Considering the high prevalence of leukemia and curative uses of cord blood stem cells, it is evident that stem cell banking is important.
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