National Cord Blood Bank Proposed
One hundred and fifty new units of umbilical cord blood will be
available to patients who need a transplant if a bill (S. 1317), which is
expected to pass Congress before the summer recess, is signed into law.
The legislative initiative, sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)
and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), authorizes $25 million per year for years
2007-2010 to collect and store high-quality units of umbilical cord blood. It
also requires a three-year demonstration program for families who wish to store
a cord blood unit for a first-degree relative with an illness that could be
treated by a transplant.
Like bone marrow, umbilical cord blood contains stem cells that
can produce healthy blood cells. For some patients with bone marrow disorders
such as leukemia, myelodysplasia or severe aplastic anemia, stem cells
collected from an umbilical cord can be used for transplant instead of stem
cells provided by a living donor.
The proposed law would fund the collection of cord blood units
from a genetically diverse population, and make units that are not suitable for
transplantation available for research. It would also require that outcome data
be collected on transplants using cord blood units.
Under the proposed law, a new program entitled the C. W. Bill
Young Cell Transplantation Program will be created. The program will fund and
oversee efforts to recruit both bone marrow donors and cord blood units. Rep.
Bill Young (R-FL) has been a long-time advocate of bone marrow donor
recruitment, and a key supporter of the legislation that created the National
Marrow Donor Program in 1986.
Assuming the bill is signed into law, the Department of Health and
Human Services is expected to begin work on implementing its provisions this
Fall. Among the many issues to be addressed are how to streamline the donor
search process so that patients can search for both a bone marrow donor and
cord blood unit in a timely manner, how to best provide advocacy and services
to patients seeking a bone marrow donor or cord blood unit.
The bill also requires safeguards for mothers donating their
babies' cord blood. The Department of Health and Human Services must set
standards to ensure that cord blood units are acquired with the informed
consent of the mother. It must also examine issues such as the appropriate
timing of such consent, and information about other medical options, such as
saving the cord blood for personal use, that should be provided to the
donor.
Ruben Rucoba MD, a pediatrician whose daughter, Rose, underwent a
cord blood transplant at nine months, is enthused by the National Cord Blood
Bank legislation.
"We are forever indebted to the woman who donated her baby's cord
blood to save our daugther's life," says Rucoba. "Just think of all the lives
that could be saved if everyone were hooked into a national cord blood
program."
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