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Stem Cells - Your Body's Defense Like bone marrow, cord blood is enriched with stem cells, the building blocks of blood and the immune system. Stem cells differentiate, or reproduce, into other cells: red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body; white blood cells, which fight infections; and platelets, which are necessary for clotting. Stem cells from cord blood are used to treat a variety of cancer and blood diseases. What is Cord Blood? "Cord Blood" is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta following birth. Cord blood stem cells have the ability to treat the same diseases as bone marrow with significantly less rejection. Cord blood is collected after the baby is born and the umbilical cord has been clamped and cut. It is painless and safe. When cord blood is collected and stored, the stem cells are immediately available for transplantation. Children make up a large portion of the 10,000 individuals each year who are unable to find a transplant in time. Years of medical research have led to an amazing discovery: the blood in a baby's umbilical cord. First used in transplant in 1988, umbilical cord blood is a plentiful and rich source of stem cells -the building blocks of the immune system- that can be used to treat a variety of life-threatening diseases including leukemia, other cancers, and blood and immune disorders. In just the last few years, hundreds of acutely ill patients have received treatment because of this tremendous medical advance. Approximately 25% of these transplants have come from siblings, with the rest coming from donated cord blood samples. As more and more families save their cord blood, whether through donation or private storage, these numbers should increase dramatically. According to The Journal of the American Medical Association, "10,000 to 15,000 Americans each year who need a (bone marrow) transplant are unable to find suitable donors". Cord blood is an alternative transplant resource. As of September 1997, over 1,500 cord blood transplants have been performed worldwide. The Cord Blood Donor Foundation (CBDF) exists to provide educational awareness and to conduct further research in the use of cord blood stem cells. Diseases Treated with Cord Blood  TOP For more information on a particular disease click on the link for that disease. Malignancies Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) Chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML) Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) Solid tumors Liposarcoma Neuroblastoma Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma Yolk sac sarcoma Hemoglobinopathies/Blood Disorders Amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia (AMT) Aplastic anemia Blackfan-Diamond anemia Congenital cytopenia Evan’s syndrome Fanconi’s anemia (genetic) Kostmann’s syndrome (genetic) Sickle cell anemia Thalassemia Inborn Errors of Metabolism Adrenoleukodystrophy Bare-lymphocyte syndrome Dyskeratosis congenita Familial erythrophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis Gaucher disease Gunter disease Hunter syndrome Hurler syndrome (genetic) Inherited neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis Krabbe disease Langerhans'-cell histiocytosis Lesch-Nyhan disease Leukocyte adhesion deficiency Osteopetrosis (genetic) Immunodeficiencies Adenosine deaminase deficiency (ADA or SCID-ADA) Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCIDs) Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome X-linked lymphoproliferative disease (XLP)