Worldwide survey on key indicators for public cord blood banking technologies: By the World Marrow Donor Association Cord Blood Working Group

Abstract

The Cord Blood Working Group of the World Marrow Donor Association created a survey for cord blood banks (CBBs) aimed to identify and understand the main technical procedures currently used by public CBBs worldwide regarding cord blood units (CBUs) available for unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. These technical procedures include CBU collection, (pre-) processing, packaging, testing, storage and transport. The survey was an online survey created with SurveyGizmo and was completed individually by each CBB at the end of 2017. The information is valuable to transplant centers, CBBs as well as the global industry of public cord blood banking. In general, we can conclude from this survey that the majority of CBBs are up to standard in terms of CBB technologies. Areas of improvement include accreditation, increase standardization in testing and setting of total nucleated cells thresholds for acceptance a CBU for public use. Furthermore, there is a need for a consensus in the way CBBs operate in term of reservation and release to facilitate a more straightforward access to the therapy. K E Y W O R D S cord blood banks, cord blood units, public cord blood banks, unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Optimization of the criteria for cord blood unit selection for transplantation in recipients of the different age groups: current view and prospects in Ukraine

“…It should be noted that WMDA registry services to search for and obtain a single CB unit will cost Ukraine from 500 000 to 750 000 UAH, which is cheaper than the cost of obtaining a bone marrow unit or peripheral blood HSCs from this register. At the same time, in Ukraine the cost of procurement and storage of one CB unit would be ten times cheaper, as there are cryobanks in the country, in particular the Cryobank of the Institute of Cell Therapy (Kyiv), which has highly qualified staff, technology and necessary material and technical base [15,16]. With the adoption of the relevant state program of financing this area, a public bank of donor umbilical cord blood could work in Ukraine as well.…”

Recycling Apparent Waste Into Biologicals: The Case of Umbilical Cord Blood in Italy and Spain

“…During the last 3 decades, newborn’s blood remaining in the placenta after term deliveries has been collected from the umbilical cord, processed and cryopreserved in public cord blood (CB) banking programs implemented following the first successful hemopoietic CB transplants pioneered by Eliane Gluckman, Hal Broxmeyer and Joanne Kurtzberg in the late 1980s. So far, a global cryopreserved CB inventory of about 800,000 units has allowed the performance of more than 40,000 transplants in pediatric and adult patients affected by blood cancers, immune deficiencies, metabolic disorders and hemoglobinopathies ( Kurtzberg, 2017 ; Mayani et al, 2020 ; Jöris et al, 2021 ).…”