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You may be aware that stem cell transplants are used to treat patients with life threatening blood disorders such as leukemia and lymphoma. However, did you know that many patients that need a stem cell transplant are unable to find a stem cell match? Even after looking within their family as well as nationally or internationally on stem cell registries for an unrelated donor, patients may still not find a match. A donor and patient need to be matched in the genes that control the immune system in order to avoid rejection and serious immune complications such as graft versus host disease where the donor’s immune system can attack the patient’s own organs and tissues. In my experience, one of the main reasons for the increasing number of patients without a matched donor is the growing mixed ethnicity across Canada. One of the ways we can address this gap is through cord blood banking. Cord blood banking is an effective way of obtaining donor cells that reflect this changing ethnic mix since the babies being born today will form the social fabric of tomorrow.

I am pleased to say that The Ottawa Hospital has joined forces with Canadian Blood Services’ new public cord blood bank to collect and store umbilical cord blood. Cord blood is rich in blood-forming stem cells and is used increasingly as a source of cells to perform stem cell transplants. In my opinion, the collection and storing of cord blood provides an ideal strategy to keep pace with the constantly changing genetic mix of Canadian society that influences the search for a donor.

We have already started collecting cord blood units in Ottawa and these units are being used to test our processes and systems prior to the official launch of the bank in April 2013. The new public cord blood bank will start in Ottawa and then expand to Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver. Having collection sites across the country will ensure the bank has units from a broad range of ethnic groups. In Ottawa, units are collected with assistance from The Ottawa Hospital’s physicians, midwives, and nurses who are working closely with Canadian Blood Services by building Canada’s first national public cord blood bank.

Blood cells produced by a baby before birth circulate through the baby’s body, umbilical cord, and placenta. After the baby is born, the umbilical cord is cut and the baby is separated from the placenta and the mother. The placenta, or “afterbirth,” is delivered several minutes later and is usually discarded. The placenta contains one-third to one-half of a cup of blood which is rich with blood stem cells. The collection takes place after the baby is born, and does not affect the delivery or the care of mom or baby. Further testing on the cord blood will determine whether the unit will be frozen and placed into long-term storage for future use. The cord blood unit will be included on the registry of the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network for any patient who might need it for transplantation, in Canada or around the world. And the best news of all, more of our patients may find the match that they desperately need.

David Allan, MD FRCPC,
Hematology, The Ottawa Hospital
Medical Director, OneMatch Public Cord Blood Bank, Canadian Blood Services

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