Storage & Therapies for Umbilical Cord Blood & Stem Cell:
Efficacy and Effectiveness in Question - CHOICE # 406 (August 16,
2010)
PDF version
Umbilical cord blood and stem cell storage are recent catchwords
as there are growing numbers of related businesses springing up in
the market where consumers pin great hopes for the regenerative
capability and possible cures for illnesses.
In a Consumer Council study that collates the views of both
physicians and biological scientists on storage and therapies
related to umbilical cord blood and stem cells, consumers are
advised to think twice on whether it is worth spending money on a
service which could be of little use in the future and of which the
claims are yet to be clinically proven.
Stem cell storage is promoted in the wake of scientific
experiments that pointed to the possibilities of utilizing stem
cells to develop and differentiate into various cells that are able
to repair damaged or aged tissues.
Private stem cell banks offer to extract stem cells from adult
peripheral blood, fat and children's deciduous teeth which could be
stored for future medical purposes.
Though the storage of stem cells is viable, the arguments for
the use and need of stem cell storage may need stronger support as
experts point out that currently only a few diseases are clinically
proven to be successfully cured through stem cell treatment.
The International Society for Stem Cell Research expressed
reservations about using a single type of stem cell to cure
different kind of diseases or using stem cells extracted from one
part of the body to cure a disease in another part of the body.
Consumers should take extra caution if they are told that stem
cells implanted would automatically find their way inside the body
and work to produce therapeutic effect. And it remains unknown
whether stem cells stored for therapeutic purposes in the future
could be actually applied.
Umbilical cord blood, a rich source of haematopoetic stem cells,
is collected at the time of a child's birth for the donor's own
treatment for diseases developed later in life. Cord blood
transplant, where a transplant is performed to reconstitute the
patient's blood supply and immune system after chemotherapy and
radiation treatment, is mainly used in treating blood-related and
immunological diseases.
However, the odds for autologous cord blood transplant are
extremely small - with an estimation of 1 in 20,000, according to
medical literature.
As the cord blood and stem cell storage banks developed
vigorously, relevant directives and regulations have been
promulgated overseas in the United States, European Union, United
Kingdom, Australia and Taiwan, to monitor related activities.
In Hong Kong, the storage of stem cells comes under no
appropriate regulation for the time being. Consumers may have to
take into consideration the efficacy and effectiveness of cord
blood or stem cells transplant for treating a specific disease as
there could be no guarantees for consumers.
Meanwhile, the Consumer Council also sought experts' inputs on
treatments that claimed to utilize stem cells for cosmetic
purposes. Though only 6 complaints in respect of such treatments
have been received since 2009, consumers are alerted to seek
scientific verification and pay attention to the stem cell
collection and processing procedures.
And more, doctors warned that transfusion of one's own blood and
stem cells is of no guard against risks and complications in the
extraction and storage process.
Questions to note are: whether the extraction and processing
procedures are legal and successfully performed, and whether
injection of a preparation that bears therapeutic claims, which
should be registered with the drug regulatory authority, is to be
performed by a physician.
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