Sunday, June 16, 2013

How long does cord blood remain viable and what it is used for?

It is not known how long cord blood can be stored in liquid nitrogen and its cells remain viable. NCBP's earliest units were stored in 1993. In checking the viability of cells in cord blood units that will not be used for transplantation, we have not detected any deterioration in the quality of the cells in cord blood units stored for up to 16 years. Units stored for up to 13 years have been used in transplants and the outcomes have been similar to those of newly collected units. Thus, we are not aware of any reason to expect any significant deterioration in the quality of stored cord blood units.

Cord blood has been used in the treatment of more than 80 different diseases so far. The most common disease category has been leukemia. The next largest group is inherited diseases (of red blood cells, the immune system and certain metabolic abnormalities.) Patients with lymphoma, myelodysplasia and severe aplastic anemia have also been successfully transplanted with cord blood. 

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