Rewind five years to when, after Andy was born in Mexico City, a barrage of infections kept him hospitalized for most of his first 16 months. When Andy’s doctors couldn’t understand why, they advised Andres and Paulina to find specialized care. Coincidentally, one of the Treviños’ neighbors had a cousin who worked at Children’s Hospital Boston. They learned the hospital is a a world leader in helping families overcome even the most complicated immune disorders. So they packed their bags and carried Andy thousands of miles away.

In Boston, doctors determined that Andy had a rare mutation in a gene called NEMO.  NEMO mutations can prevent the body from activating genes that play a critical role in immune response and can ultimately cripple the immune system.¹ There are only about 15 cases worldwide of this genetic mutation.

While Andy was upbeat despite his rare condition,  – “He loved joking with the nurses and he smiled for X-rays just like he would for a family picture,” Andres recalls –  his prognosis was grim. Typical treatment includes a regimen of antibiotics and immunoglobulin replacement to prevent infections, as well as other therapies. Even then, Andy would still suffer from regular infections and would spend much of his life confined to the hospital. No child with Andy’s condition has lived for more than 20 years. Someday, the infections would win.

Andy’s only hope for a cure was a stem cell transplant, which would build a new, healthy immune system. But first he needed to find a donor to provide a source of healthy stem cells.  

Searching for a match
To have the best chance of success, doctors recommended that the Treviños find a perfect match, meaning Andy needed stem cells from someone who had the same genetic makeup but didn’t have the NEMO disorder. The Treviños scoured donor registries but their search was complicated by their ethnicity, which narrowed the donor pool. “The U.S. bone marrow registry had six million people registered, but only 250,000 were Hispanic,” Andres says, “and the registry in Mexico only had 3,000 people.”

After two years of fruitless searching, Andres and Paulina decided to try and give birth to a child who didn’t suffer from Andy’s condition and could donate stem cells to Andy.

The lifesaving potential of sibling cord blood
Sofia was born on a crisp, late-winter day in 2004. “It was the best day of my life,” Andres recalls. “We were so amazed by her beautiful red cheeks, and when she cried it was the greatest sound I’d ever heard.” Minutes after Sofia’s birth, a doctor collected her umbilical cord blood and it was sent off to ViaCord’s laboratory facility for processing, cryopreservation, and storage.

Six months later, Andy underwent chemotherapy, then received an infusion of stem cells from Sofia’s cord blood and bone marrow. Those cells gradually rebuilt the system that manufactured Andy’s blood, creating new healthy cells that didn’t have the NEMO flaw. Two years later, doctors pronounced him cured.

As Andres and Paulina watched Andy regain his strength, they marveled at his special bond with Sofia. “Andy felt they had to be together all the time – even at night, he always wanted her to be in his bedroom,” Andres says. As the kids grew up – Andy is now 12 years old, Sofia is seven – Andres and Paulina explained to them that their bond goes beyond that of most siblings. Today, Andy is a normal, healthy boy. He still has a great sense of humor, he loves to play with his sisters (Paulina had another baby girl!) and he loves soccer – especially the Manchester United team.

While emergency-room trips and stints in the intensive care unit are things of the past, Andres and Paulina will never forget how cord blood banking helped save Andy.

“I think about that every day,” Andres says. “The power of stem cells is what cured my son.”

To learn more about the Treviños amazing journey, check out their blog or read Andy & Sofia, a book that chronicles their life-changing search for Andy’s cure.

References:

1. http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/immuneDeficiency/Understanding/Pages/nemoMutations.aspx

For more than 15 years, ViaCord has been proud to provide families the option to privately store their newborn’s umbilical cord blood for potential use in a medical treatment.  Over the years we’ve seen many families in need of a stem cell treatment turn to the cord blood stem cells they’ve banked with us. At the beginning of 2011, ViaCord released its 200^th cord blood unit to help treat a child with cerebral palsy. This milestone gave us a chance to reflect on the advancements cord blood stem cells have made in medical applications over the past two decades – from being used to treat just one disease twenty years ago, to nearly 80 today; as well as being studied by scientists in the area of regenerative medicine.  It also made us think of the faces, the hearts and the family stories behind the 200 number.

Let’s take a look back at some of the heartwarming ViaCord family stories from 2011…

The Page Family and Baby Harlow’s Journey
Parents Jamie and Ben decided to save their daughter Harlow’s cord bloodwith ViaCord “just in case”, not ever thinking they would need it just months later. At only four months old, doctors discovered a “grapefruit sized mass” in their daughter Harlow’s stomach.  As treatment options were discussed, the Pages wondered if the stem cells from Harlow’s cord blood could be used to treat her aggressive cancer. Ultimately Jamie and Ben’s decision to bank Harlow’s cord blood provided them with an additional medical resource for Harlow when it came time to treat her tumor. You can read about the Page Family’s journey here.   

ViaCord parents Julie and Jason reinforce their decision to bank
When parents Julie and Jason heard about a research study re-infusing children with their own cord blood stem cells to help treat cerebral palsy, they were thankful they’d saved their daughter’s just years before. Rebecca was born with a neurological impairment that makes it difficult for her to speak or use her limbs. Though Julie and Jason were hopeful the cord blood stem cell infusion would help improve Rebecca’s condition, they have yet to see much progress.  Nevertheless, they remain positive and have no regrets about their decision to bank cord blood. As Julie told us, “I encourage all my pregnant friends to save the cord blood because you honestly never know. There are so many successes out there due to stem cell studies, how can you not do it?”  Read Rebecca’s story here

Saving a Sibling’s Cord Blood – Grateful for the Option
Madilynn was just 6 months old when she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).  Aggressive chemotherapy treatment began quickly and one month after Madilynn’s diagnosis, her mother Tasha learned she was pregnant with her second child.  Tasha’s OB/GYN suggested that Tasha enroll in ViaCord’s Sibling Connection Program to have her son, Liam’s cord blood stem cells saved as a potential medical resource that could help treat Maddie in the future. Luckily, Maddie responded well to eight months of chemotherapy and her brother’s cord blood stem cells have not been needed. Tasha is so thankful for Maddie’s health and for having Liam’s cord blood stem cells stored with ViaCord, just in case. You can read about Tasha’s experience here.

Of course we hope our ViaCord families will never need to use their banked stem cells, but the value in having them available for a family as a potential medical treatment option is something that shouldn’t be overlooked. Taking a look back at the family stories of 2011 strengthens our resolve in 2012 to raise awareness about cord blood banking so more families whose lives could potentially be changed by a cord blood stem cell treatment have the chance to decide if cord blood banking is right for them.

If you want to help spread awarenes, come join us on FaceBook! Our over 25,000 FB Fans are helping us keep the conversation going – you can be one of them!

Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy new year!

For many, the Thanksgiving season is an opportunity to take some time and reflect, give thanks and express gratitude.  This year we asked our very own ViaCord employees to tell us the things they’re grateful for this year.  Here’s what they said:

 “This year more than ever, I’m thankful for the strength, love and support of my wife, Janaelle, who is the reason I got through my stem cell transplant last year—better and stronger than ever!!”  
- Brian,  ViaCord Clinical Consultant

“I am thankful for my 33 healthy nieces and nephews and for having a job that allows me to collaborate and affect positive change with so many intelligent, passionate and hard-working coworkers, making a difference for better future health for families.”   
-  Karen, Vice President Lab Operations and ViaCord Site Leader

“I am blessed to belong to a close family, and this year, using Facebook^® we set up a reunion to meet the cousins we never knew as kids. As families get smaller, these extended family connections will mean more, and I am grateful that we have had a chance to extend these relationships to the current and upcoming generations of children and  grandchildren.”
 - Susan, ViaCord Sales Manager

“I’m thankful for my job, which gives me the opportunity to help families with sick children and foster new initiatives that will  impact the well being and quality of life for many more families in the future. I’m also very thankful for the love of my family and my hard-working husband, as well as my health and the health of my baby due in Spring! (Oh, and pickles!!)” 
- Kate, ViaCord Clinical Manager

“I’m thankful to have one last turkey-day meal with my entire immediate family. My sister is moving out of the country next summer, so this will be our last major holiday together. I’m grateful to be able to spend Thanksgiving with the ones I love.”  
- Bukola, Manager ViaCord Customer Service

“I am thankful for the health and happiness of my family. I love being the youngest of 11 kids (yes, you read that right!), and I feel blessed that I get to be an aunt to my wonderful nephews and nieces. Although the holidays can be hectic, they are never boring.”
- Jenn, Marketing Intern

We’d love to hear from you. Tell us, what are you thankful for on this special holiday? Take a few moments to let us know in the comments or ViaCord’s Facebook^®  Wall.

Ever wish someone could explain to you in 30 seconds how umbilical cord blood stem cells are collected? Does hearing stories of ViaCord families inspire you to let friends and family know about the option of stem cell preservation? Would it be helpful to hear an OB’s perspective on cord blood banking?  Well now you can watch, learn and be inspired all in one place – on ViaCord’s YouTube Channel!

Bringing ViaCord families and information to your home
With over 4 million people connecting and auto-sharing via social networks,¹YouTube is a great way to help spread awareness about the importance of cord blood and cord tissue banking, and the work that we do at ViaCord.

Here are some highlights from our most viewed videos:

• Trinity helped save her sister Taylor’s life. Once battling leukemia, Taylor now has less than a 5% chance of a leukemia relapse, thanks to Trinity’s cord blood. Watch this video >>.
• A ViaCord expert explains in 30secs how those precious cord blood stem cells are collected after birth. Watch this video >>.
• Parents Kelly and Corey talk about their experience enrolling their daughter, Cady, into the Duke University cerebral palsy study. Watch this video >>.  You can also read their story on our blog, here.
• Watch an overview of the cord blood and cord tissue banking process and learn about the potential benefits it can provided families. Watch this video >>.

Our goal is to provide useful and engaging videos for our YouTube visitors, and with your help we can reach that goal together! Just tell us in the comments of this post what type of videos you’d most like to see on the ViaCord YouTube Channel.

Staying in touch with the latest from ViaCord
While you’re checking out our videos, be sure to subscribe to our channel. Your subscription will guarantee that you are notified when new videos are posted. Telling others about ViaCord’s YouTube Channel is also a great way to help keep people informed about the potential benefits cord blood and cord tissue banking. Anyone that visits us on YouTube can see for themselves why over 250,000 families have chosen ViaCord.

 Monsters and princesses should always travel in packs.
Kids should never go trick-or-treating alone. Get a group of kids together to go out hunting for candy together. They can even coordinate their costumes. And make sure your little ones have flashlights, glowsticks or reflector tape as part of their costumes. You can even get creative with the tape and make scary faces.

• Test the spooks before the big day.
  Costumes are designed for all different shapes and sizes. It’s important that the costume fits correctly to avoid any real scares on this candy holiday. And that includes makeup. Try the makeup on a small area of skin to make sure there aren’t any reactions.

 Put a different kind of flicker in your flame.
Whether it’s jack-o’-lanterns on the front step, luminaries along the sidewalk or lighting at your party, give flameless candles a try. These candles avoid fire hazards and give your home the same creepy vibe.

Trick your kids into eating healthy treats.
Hosting a Halloween party? Give healthy treats a try, such as skinless grapes for eyeballs or raisins at the end of thin strips of cheese to look like decayed fingers.

Create haunting activities for your party.
Kids love running around—and your yard is the perfect place for them to do that in their costumes. Set up a few games, like Ghost in the Graveyard, to entertain them while adults mingle indoors.

Holidays like these give us the chance to connect with ViaCord families beyond cord blood and cord tissue.  We’d love for you to come join the conversation on ViaCord’s FaceBook Page and tell us what your little one is going to be this Halloween.  And if you’re feeling really ambootious—post a picture on our Facebook ^® Wall!

1. LET THE STAFF KNOW UPON ARRIVAL
Letting the medical staff  know you’ve chosen to collect your baby’s cord blood or cord tissue, or both is an important first step in the cord blood collection process. Even if it’s noted in your files, telling the staff at the hospital of exactly what you’ve ordered will ensure everyone’s in the know. And if medical staff shift rotation takes place during your time in labor, inform the replacement staff as well. Keeping everyone in the know is the way to go!

2.   COLLECT EVEN WITH A C-SECTION
When moms go in for a c-section, whether it’s planned or unplanned, sometimes the collection kit gets left behind. Make sure it’s known that you want to collect your cord blood or cord tissue or both – whichever you ordered, so the medical staff will  make sure  the kit is in the c-section room. ViaCord’s sterile collection bag is FDA approved and can be used in c-sections..

3.   NO NEED TO POKE YOU TWICE
Let the medical staff know ViaCord requires a sample of mom’s blood as part of the collection process, so when they draw blood for other purposes they can collect the maternal blood sample for ViaCord at the same time.

4. CLEAN THE CORD
A clean cord helps keep bacteria at bay, which is vital when collecting cord blood. It’s the medical staff’s job to clean the cord and the how to is detailed in their instructions, but it can’t hurt for you to remind them.

5. EVERY CELL COUNTS
If you’ve opted for cord blood banking you want the staff to collect as much blood as possible. If you’ve opted for cord tissue banking, you want the largest segment of the cord collected as possible.. Again, this is the responsibility of the staff, but there is no shame in yelling, “Did you get it all?” or “Are you sure there isn’t anything left?”

6.   KEEP THE KIT VISIBLE
It’s easy to forget everything else when the focus is on brining your new little one into the world! To help remind the medical staff that you’ll be collecting the cord blood, keep the ViaCord Collection Kit clearly visible during your delivery. Lay it on a nearby table and designate a person in the delivery room to be in charge of ensuring the medical staff gets the kit in time.

7.   DESIGNATE A CALLER IN ADVANCE
Know ahead of time who will call ViaCord after the collection has taken place to review contents and arrange the courier pick-up. We recommend this be someone other than Mom. Mom has enough to do that day!

At that critical and vulnerable point in Maddie’s treatment, Tasha felt a rush of hope and was grateful to have the option to save her son’s cord blood stem cells – a medical resource that could potentially be used in the future to help treat Maddie. Tasha welcomed Liam into the world on June 27, 2011.  By that time, Maddie had responded well to eight months of chemotherapy.  Given Maddie’s positive response to chemotherapy, her oncologists do not plan to make use of Liam’s cord blood in the immediate future.  But, that does not make Tasha any less passionate about encouraging other parents to save their child’s cord blood.

The Jock Family
Tasha, Maddie and Liam

 

Having the option to save her son’s cord blood to potentially help treat her
daughter’s leukemia is something this ViaCord Mom is very grateful for.

Stem cells from umbilical cord blood have been used in nearly 20,000 transplants worldwide during the last 20 years to help treat nearly 80 diseases.  And clinical trials, in the area of regenerative medicine, are now being conducted to determine whether a child’s own cord blood stem cells may be used to treat cerebral palsy and Type 1 Diabetes.  Read more about the trials in a previous blog post.

Despite all the great news about cord blood stem cells and the hope that they provide for the future, there still exists a critical education gap. According to a study published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine  nearly 75% of expectant mothers in the study considered themselves “minimally informed” when it comes to cord blood banking.

To help address the significant education gap, the Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Foundation , a comprehensive resource for expectant parents about cord blood medical research and cord blood storage options, has released a new educational brochure for expectant parents.

The brochure can be downloaded at no cost from the foundation’s home page and has been translated into several languages, including Spanish, German, Italian, Greek, and Hebrew, with more translations in progress.

In honor of Stem Cell Awareness Day, we hope you’ll take a moment to help spread the word about cord blood banking and about ViaCord!  Here are a couple of ways you can help raise awareness:

1. Come join the over 25,000 ViaCord fans on Facebook . You can connect with other ViaCord  families and individuals that support cord blood banking.
2. Tell expecting friends about the importance of cord blood stem cells and the benefits of preserving them. The impact of sharing your knowledge you may be greater than you think.
3. Email your friends a link where they can download a free information kit from ViaCord and learn more!

And be sure to tell us in the comments section of other ways you help raise awareness!!

After your child is born the umbilical cord blood that is left over will be drained into a collection bag. If cord blood alone were placed in the bag, the blood would quickly coagulate or clot, leaving most of its cells unusable. To prevent this, collection bags are pre-filled with an anticoagulant. This minimizes clotting while the blood is transported to the processing lab. But not all anticoagulants are created equal.

Like nearly all other family and public cord blood banks, ViaCord uses an anticoagulant called liquid citrate phosphate dextrose (CPD). Another type of anticoagulant used in some cord blood collection bags is called dry heparin.  It pays for expectant parents to know the difference between the two and the impact those differences may have on the cord blood collection. At the end of the day, when treating patients, the more stem cells a physician has access to, the better the chances are for a successful treatment.

Let’s start with liquid CPD. CPD is a combination of agents –primarily derived from salts and sugars. It packs a double punch by acting as an anticoagulant preventing clotting as well as a cell preservative. CPD is approved by the FDA for cord blood collection and has been shown to have the lowest toxicity to stem cells. This explains why U.S. Department of Health and Human Services guidelines recommend that only citrate-based anticoagulants like CPD are used to collect cord blood. It also illuminates why CPD is the industry standard and considered the preferred choice among leaders and experts in the field.

As an anticoagulant, CPD is free of animal byproduct; heparin is not. Unlike CPD, heparin has not received FDA approval for use as a cord blood collection agent and is not recommended by cord blood transplant experts. 

When considering which company – and, in turn, which anticoagulant – to use, parents should know that research comparing cell counts from cord blood units collected in CPD versus those collected with dry heparin showed the CPD units contained significantly more viable stem cells than those collected with dry heparin.  A greater number of cord blood stem cells used in transplant improves speed of recovery, engraftment, and survival in patients.¹

These superior results are why ViaCord chooses to use CPD in its innovative collection bag, which took more than two years to create, is FDA approved, and is specifically designed to maximize collection volume and minimize contamination. Using CPD helps us give families the peace of mind that comes from knowing that, if they ever need their stem cells for treatment, they’ll have the best chance of success.

References:

1. Morey Kraus, Karen Foster, Asimena Rigas Bridges and Mark Walters.
   Presented at the 51st American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition;
   New Orleans, LA: December 5-8 2009. Publication #4227.
   (http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/misc/ASH_Meeting_Abstracts_Info.dtl).
   Accessed December, 2009.

Promising results help scientists move forward
Approximately 850,000 people in the United States have refractory angina. This condition causes untreatable chest pain and can make exercise nearly intolerable.

The Intramyocardial, Autologous CD34+ Cell Therapy for Refractory Angina study is the first of its kind to show that low-dose injections of bone marrow stem cells harvested from the patient improve chronic pain and increase exercise tolerance.

Researchers, however, are still cautiously optimistic as they continue to pursue answers to remaining questions. One matter for further exploration involves patients who were taking a high-dose injection of stem cells and did not show significant improvement. This leaves scientists wondering if the high dose is less effective because it’s outside of the therapeutic range and requires adjustment. In addition, it was found that the bone marrow harvest process caused some patients to exhibit elevated levels of an enzyme that indicates heart damage. However, none of these patients had any changes on EKG or experienced any pain.

These ongoing questions will be further examined in future studies as the researchers work to understand how the stem cells function to repair blood vessels in the heart.

The study will move forward with a Phase III clinical trial later this year. This phase is critical for two reasons: it will use a larger group of patients, and it’s required in order to receive approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to bring a therapeutic to public market. For people suffering from refractory angina, an FDA-approved treatment could mean a significant change in their quality of life; like advancing from only watching television to walking, or from walking to riding a bike.

Translating success to cord blood
It’s interesting to note that patients were injected with CD34+ cells— a cell type that is also found in cord blood. And as we know from Dr. Hal Broxmeyer’s, a renowned pioneering cord blood scientist, latest study there is no evidence that cord blood stem cells will expire, meaning the stem cells you bank today could potentially be used decades from now. ¹

Additional research would of course be required to uncover any potential for cord blood stem cells to be used in future treatments like these. Until then, we’ll keep you updated with more exciting stem cell news.

And tell us, is there anything you’ve read in stem cell news that you’d like more information about?

References:

1. Broxmeyer, H.E., Lee, M-R, Hangoc, G., Cooper, S., Prasain, N., Kim, Y-J, Mallett, C., Ye, Z., Witting, S., Cornetta, K., Cheng, L., and Yoder, M.C. 2011. Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, generation of induced pluripotent stem cells, and isolation of endothelial progenitors from 21- to 23.5-year cryopreserved cord blood. Blood. 117:4773-4777. (2011 Mar 10. [Epub ahead of print]) (PMC Journal – In Process)