This is the last article in a series dedicated to learning about umbilical cord blood stem cell storage. It aims to educate expectant parents by providing them a comprehensive guide to cord blood banking that will help them make an informed decision.
Once you have decided to store your child’s umbilical cord blood, the next decision is how to store it — as volume-reduced storage or whole cord blood storage. Here are the key differences between the two techniques to help you make a decision.
What is the difference between whole cord blood storage and volume-reduced storage?
Both processes begin the same way, with the blood extracted from the umbilical cord and sent to the laboratory. Volume-reduction filters and processes the blood. The focus of volume-reduction is to preserve as many high-quality Haematological Stem Cells (HSC) as possible and store them in a convenient way. Unfortunately the process discards some other potentially valuable stem cells and growth hormones.
Whole cord blood storage preserves the entire blood sample including all types of stem cells and growth hormones.
Are there any treatments that will only be available to me if I store whole cord blood?
Whole cord blood contains a variety of stem cells including Haematological Stem Cells (HSC), Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) and Very Small Embryonic-Like Stem Cells (VSELs). When the blood is volume-reduced, the focus is on preserving as many HSCs as possible because most current stem cell treatments only require this type of stem cell. Potentially valuable MSCs and VSELs can be lost during the volume-reduction process.
MSCs and VSELs have been shown potential for regenerating and repairing damaged or diseased tissue. There are more than 30 research projects underway to determine exactly how useful MSCs and VSELs are for treating illnesses and injuries including: heart disease, spinal cord injury, blindness, diabetes, Alzheimers disease, Parkinson’s disease and stroke. To gain access to future stem cell therapies for these conditions, it is important to store whole cord blood.
Is there a downside to storing whole cord blood?
There are very limited downsides to storing whole cord blood. It will take slightly more processing to convert a whole cord blood sample to its ready-to-use state when you need it (compared to volume-reduced blood). Storing larger samples of blood can be more technically challenging for the laboratory.
Is there an upside to storing volume-reduced stem cells?
Volume-reduction was primarily used to save money on storage costs for public stem cell banks. It is also more convenient to process the sample before it is frozen and it is easier to obtain HSCs from pre-processed frozen samples.
Because the focus was on preserving Haematological Stem Cells, scientists saw no downside to discarding many of the other types of stem cells. With research showing potential value in other elements inside whole cord blood, the consensus has changed and now whole cord blood storage is widely seen as the best way to preserve umbilical cord blood.
What is the benefit of storing whole cord blood compared to volume-reduced storage?
The key benefit of storing whole cord blood is that it preserves every potentially valuable component in the blood. No stem cells or growth hormones are lost and everything is preserved for potential use in the future. With medical breakthroughs occurring rapidly in the field of stem cell research, whole cord blood storage is becoming very popular amongst parents.
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