Advanced Search
Current and Breaking News for Professionals, Consumers and Media




Letters to the Editor Author: National Marrow Donor Program Last Updated: Sep 7, 2017 - 10:06:33 PM



Letters to the Editor

By National Marrow Donor Program
Aug 5, 2011 - 5:01:29 PM



Email Newsletter icon, E-mail Newsletter icon, Email List icon, E-mail List icon Sign up for our Ezine
For Email Marketing you can trust


Email this article
 Printer friendly page
(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Dear Mr. McCurdy, On behalf of the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP), I would like to clarify some inaccurate and misleading information presented in the article, “Dramatic Rise in Autologous Therapy Spurs Interest in Private Blood Banking,” which was published on July 28.

While the article demonstrates the tremendous strides in cord blood transplantation, it is also important to ensure your readers are given accurate, objective information to make educated decisions for their family. Some of the inaccuracies include:

§ “The National Marrow Donor Program projects that 10,000 cord blood stem cell transplants will be performed annually by 2015, up from 2,000 in 2006.” This should be corrected to read, “The National Marrow Donor Program projects that 10,000 marrow or umbilical cord blood transplants will be performed annually by 2015, up from 5,200 in 2010.

§ “They found that there were more than 200 cases of autologous therapy by the end of 2009, 70% of which occurred in the last two years of that period.” Only presenting information on the number of autologous cord blood transplants performed is misleading to your readers. Worldwide, nearly 4,000 unrelated cord blood transplants are facilitated each year using cord blood that was donated to a public cord blood bank. The NMDP facilitated more than 1,100 of these unrelated cord blood transplants in 2010.

What’s more, these transplants include both pediatric and adult patients. About 36 percent of cord blood transplants today combine two units for one patient, so use has already expanded to patients higher than the maximum weight of the patient of 65 pounds. Contrary to what the article states, adults can – and are – being treated using cord blood.

§ “The benefits of private banking of cord blood and newborn stem cells for future medical treatments are impressive. Private banking provides a better chance of patient matching, with a 100% match for the “banked” child and a 25-50% probability of a match with the patient’s siblings, depending upon disease and acceptable match criteria determined by a doctor. This statement is misleading, as it neglects to provide the many considerations doctors take into account when pursuing transplant, beyond the degree of match.

For example, many diseases that are treated with transplant may already be present in the baby's cord blood, so an autologous transplant is not an option. For these diseases, a transplant using cells donated from a relative or unrelated donor (allogeneic transplant) is the best choice. Also, full siblings only have a 25 percent chance of matching each other. NMDP data shows that 70 percent of families will not have a matching donor in their family, so they must turn to the Be The Match Registry to find an unrelated adult donor or cord blood unit.

We recommend providing parents with information on how physicians decide to use autologous or allogeneic cord blood so the parents can make an educated decision.

If you would like more information on how the physician would decide which type of transplant and cell source to use, please see FAQ, “If someone in my family needed a transplant, when would cord blood stored in a private bank by my family be used versus unrelated cord blood donated to a public bank?: http://www.marrow.org/HELP/Donate_Cord_Blood_Share_Life/Cord_Blood_Donation_FAQs/index.html#needed

We would sincerely appreciate an update to the article, as we believe your readers should be accurately informed about cord blood transplantation. NMDP media relations staff is available to assist you with any questions or information, and can be reached 24-hours a day at 612-817-6442.

Warm regards,

Kelsey Capistrant | On Behalf of the National Marrow Donor Program




Top of Page

HealthNewsDigest.com

Letters to the Editor
Latest Headlines


+ Federal Investigators Looking at Valeant's Contact Lens Dealings
+ Letters to the Editor
+ Letter to the Editor



Contact Us | Job Listings | Help | Site Map | About Us
Advertising Information | HND Press Release | Submit Information | Disclaimer

Site hosted by Sanchez Productions