Stem Cell Treatments Revolutionize Medicine

Banking your baby’s stem cells offers a unique opportunity to provide protection and security for your family. Stem cells are the building blocks of life that form many other tissues, organs, and systems in the body. Umbilical cord blood stem cells are currently used to treat many diseases, and new uses are being explored every day.

Two Ways to Protect Your Family

FamilyCord offers the ability to bank both types of umbilical cord stem cells. Cord blood and cord tissue provide different types of stem cells, so storing both gives you a greater number and variety of cell types. This may increase the potential to treat a broader range of diseases.

Cord blood

A rich source of Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs), which have already been used in thousands of transplants.

Cord tissue

A source of many cell types, including Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs). Researchers have discovered that MSCs will play a major role in future clinical therapies using Regenerative Medicine. This research holds the promise of regenerating damaged tissues and organs by stimulating the body to heal itself.

Stem Cell Treatments Can Save Lives

To date, physicians have used stem cells from umbilical cord blood in more than 40,000 transplants to treat nearly 80 life-threatening diseases, including cancers, blood disorders, and immune system deficiencies.

Stem cells are also the key to the emerging field of Regenerative Medicine, which promises new cures for previously untreatable conditions.

Stem cells have the capability to develop into many different cell types in the body. These cells can be collected from your baby’s cord blood (the blood in the umbilical cord) and the cord tissue (the tissue from the umbilical cord itself).

Experts currently estimate a probability of 1 in 217 that your child will have a medical condition that may be treated with stem cells during his or her lifetime. (Published in Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. 2008:14(3):316-322.)

Read about one child’s experience with cord blood stem cell transplantation.