Inm-4: A Decade of Cord Blood Banking in Iran

a:4:{s:10:"Background";s:2314:"The research made on stem cells through the last decade and following that the great achievements made applying stem cells in treating vast number of diseases have turned the issue of Cord Blood collecting and saving (cryopreserving) to a critical one. A prompt demand and access to stem cells and applying them in treating a wide range of terminal diseases have led to an increasing interest and attention toward establishing Cord Blood Stem Cells Banks. Holding up such banks will facilitate access to these cells and saving more lives as its consequence. Since the first cord blood transplantation, performed by Prof. Elian Gluckman in 1988, more than 30,000 stem cells transplantations have been performed all around the world which were mainly concerned with blood diseases. Cord Blood Banks, basically, may appear in two forms: public, and private. 1. Public Banks collect donated cord blood for research or for use by anyone who may need it. There is usually no charge associated with this service. After birth, blood is collected, anonymously marked, and sent to a public bank to potentially save the life of another child one day. If you choose this option and your child or a family member later develops a disease that requires a stem cell transplant for treatment, you won't be able to obtain the donation you made to the bank. 2. Private Banks store cord blood for personal use by the family. There is a fee associated with this service. People who have a family history of disease that can be treated with stem cell transplants sometimes consider this option. In our country, Cord Blood Banks, both public and private, came into existence from 1380s (2000s). There have been about 10,000 samples cryopreserved in public banks including Shariati Hospital, Iran Blood Transfusion Organization and Royan Research Institute. While the number of samples cryopreserved in Royan private cord blood bank is about 54,000. The cord blood samples cryopreserved in public banks include mostly the ones collected from Tehran, whereas the cord blood samples cryopreserved in private bank come from more than 23 provinces. So far, more than 40 cord blood samples have been released from both public and private banks to be applied in hematopoietic stem cells transplantations.";s:19:"MaterialsAndMethods";N;s:7:"Results";N;s:10:"Conclusion";N;}