Umbilical-Cord Blood Storage Merits Debated

Alexander Goldman was a healthy newborn, but doctors drained his umbilical cord and raced to deep-freeze the blood, just in case he ever needs it.

Private companies are signing up pregnant women such as Alexander’s mother nationwide to freeze umbilical-cord blood in the hopes it might fight lethal diseases that attack children later in life.

Scientists caution that these transplants are highly experimental and the government is about to regulate them, but some mothers say it’s insurance they can’t refuse.

Usually, umbilical-cord blood is thrown away. But since 1988 it has been used as a last resort to help about 170 dying children fight leukemia and other blood diseases.

Cord blood is a rich source of stem cells, the building blocks that produce blood cells. Certain diseases and chemotherapy destroy stem cells, meaning patients need a transplant to survive. Cord blood has about 10 times more stem cells than the standard--and very difficult--bone marrow transplant.

But cord blood has not yet been proven a better alternative to bone-marrow transplants in most patients. And only one in 10,000 babies will develop a disease treatable by cord blood, said transplant pioneer Dr. Pablo Rubinstein.

Still, at least four U.S. companies are recruiting pregnant women to freeze and store their babies’ umbilical cord cells. They charge $300 to $1,500 upfront, with yearly storage fees of $75 to $150.

Now the Food and Drug Administration is about to regulate cryobanks. Nobody knows if cord blood lets children live as long as bone-marrow transplants do, if it helps adults or even how long the blood is usable, the FDA warned.