Lazaron
Southern Africa's oldest Stem Cell Storage Bank
FAQ
- What is a stem cell?
- What are stem cells used for?
- Why bank umbilical cord blood?
- What are the benefits of having my baby’s cord stem cells stored?
- When should I consider storing my baby’s stem cells?
- How are the stem cells collected?
- Is the collection procedure harmful to my baby?
- What happens after the birth?
- Now that we have saved these precious stem cells, what happens next?
- What do you store my baby’s stem cells in?
- How long can you keep these cells in storage?
- What therapies lie in the future?
- Why does Lazaron have annual storage fees?
- What about other stem cells?
- What makes Lazaron different from other companies?
Stem cells are considered to be the basic building blocks of our body, blood, bones and are often referred to as ‘Master Cells’. Stem cells have the potential to become almost any other cell in the body making stem cell therapies the way of the future.
Stem cell therapies and treatments are arguably the fastest growing sector in the medical industry today, and already curing over 70 diseases and disorders that we never dreamed possible. Some of the fatal diseases and disorders currently being treated with stem cells are: The Leukemia’s, Lymphoma’s and other blood cancers, bone marrow disorders like Aplastic Anemia and Sickle Cell disease.
WHY BANK UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD?
ONLY Haemopoietic stem cells (blood forming cells that can only be found in bone marrow and umbilical cord blood) are currently clinically proven for treatments of diseases like Leukaemia, lymphoma, immune system disorders, etc. Therefore, it is critical to store your umbilical cord stem cells as the only other similar source is bone marrow which unfortunately has many other complications e.g. 1 in 50 000 match, higher rejection rate, etc.
Patients requiring a Haemopoietic stem cell transplant will receive cells from one of three sources: bone marrow, circulating blood, or umbilical cord blood. It is easier to match transplant patients with immune naive cord blood stem cells than with the other sources of stem cells. Umbilical cord blood stem cells are the most immune naïve stem cells making it best to harvest these at birth from your baby as it has not yet been exposed to infections and immune reactions. Transplant patients also recover better when they receive stem cells from a related donor, instead of an unrelated donor.
Although there are other sources of stem cells available, none of these exceed the benefits of cord blood stem cells. These alternatives sources of stem cells currently represent the experimental research pertaining to the fields of cosmetic and reconstructive/regenerative medicine.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF HAVING MY BABY’S CORD STEM CELLS STORED?
Your baby’s cord blood stem cells remain a perfect match for your baby, and have a high probability of being a viable match for a sibling (1-in-4). It can also potentially be used by parents and grandparents in the treatment of over 70 diseases including a wide range of blood cancers, genetic diseases, immune system deficiencies and blood disorders.
Other advantages include:
- Cord blood is readily available at birth
- It is easily collected without risk to mother or child and is totally painless
- Cord blood is often a superior choice to bone marrow transplants for treating leukaemia and other immunological diseases
- There is a reduced risk of graft versus host disease
- Cord blood stem cells have superior proliferative capacity
- The possible use of stored stem cells to bolster the immune system after certain treatments
The current reported probability for future use of stem cells remains in the order of 1 to 200 by age 70 (based on national medical data bases SEER and CIBMTR for the years 2001-2003). It is anticipated that this probability will increase substantially in future as new medical advances are made. Internationally, substantial research is being conducted on umbilical cord blood, to find ways of expanding the number of HSC’s. To date the cord blood stem cells have a greater proliferative capacity and a reduced incidence of rejection.
WHEN SHOULD I CONSIDER STORING MY BABY’S STEM CELLS?
When you give birth you have a once in a life time opportunity to save your baby’s stem cells. Your growing baby is full of pure, potent stem cells and unfortunately you only get one chance to collect them.
Umbilical cord blood is the most potent source of stem cells we have today. It is important to remember that this blood, umbilical cord and placenta are normally thrown away as medical waste.
HOW ARE THE STEM CELLS COLLECTED?
Collection is a very simple, non-invasive and totally painless procedure for you and your baby. On the birth day, you will hand your Doctor our ‘Collection Kit’. During your birth, once the baby is born the umbilical cord is clamped and cut as normal. Your Paediatrician will ensure your baby is all well and your doctor will collect the blood that is left over from the umbilical cord and placenta. A needle is inserted into the vein in the umbilical cord and blood is then quickly drained using a specialized blood bag. The number of stem cells available for harvesting is directly proportional to the volume of cord blood collected. Therefore if more blood is collected, more stem cells will be available for harvest and storage. The number of stem cells that are frozen may relate to the therapeutic usefulness of the product at a later time.
IS THE COLLECTION PROCEDURE HARMFUL TO MY BABY?
No, the umbilical cord blood is only collected once the cord has been clamped and separated from the baby. This collection procedure does not affect the birthing procedure practiced by your healthcare professional. Therefore the process is perfectly safe and pain free for both mother and baby. As far as the mother and child are concerned it is completely non-invasive.
After the birth, your doctor will hand the “kit” back to you and we will collect it from your bedside. Private couriers will forward the sample to the Lazaron laboratories in Cape Town to be processed immediately, maximising the cell viability. It is important that the specimen reaches us within 24 hours after collection.
NOW THAT WE HAVE SAVED THESE PRECIOUS STEM CELLS, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
On arrival at our laboratory, the stem cells are then extracted through an intricate four hour process at our laboratory. Your sample is tested by an outside pathology lab to verify viability and sterility. Finally the stem cells are controlled rate frozen to -196 deg Celsius and stored in specialised cryo-vials (internationally approved). All samples are processed according to International Standards and validated SOP’s.
WHAT DO YOU STORE MY BABY’S STEM CELLS IN?
All samples are stored in internationally approved cryo-vials. Vials have the advantage that the cord blood is stored in multiple portions along with a ‘test sample’ which gives the family the option to extract part of the collection and save the rest. Each vial is labeled with a unique code and stored individually.
HOW LONG CAN YOU KEEP THESE CELLS IN STORAGE?
The current scientific results show that stem cells can be kept indefinitely when left undisturbed in liquid nitrogen. The metabolic rate of these cells is slowed to almost zero which means they are almost frozen in time. Lazaron can therefore store these cells for as long as you wish and will not limit you to a 20 year contract.
WHAT THERAPIES LIE IN THE FUTURE?
The untapped potential of stem cells therapies lie in the future. Currently there are staggering results with heart muscle repair after heart attack, spinal cord repair, diabetes, arthritis, blindness and even open wounds like burns and frost bite.
Currently there is a misconception that stem cells can only be used to treat hereditary or genetic disorders but this is no longer the case as unfortunately we are all susceptible to heart attacks, diabetes, arthritis and obviously open wounds.
WHY DOES LAZARON HAVE ANNUAL STORAGE FEES?
Our storage fees are currently R168 (incl VAT) per year.(This payment is only made once a year). We have kept our storage fee separate to protect you and your stem cells in the future. Your baby’s stem cells may be stored at Lazaron for the rest of their life and this annual fee ensures that our facilities can be maintained and upgraded over this period. This would not be possible without this fee.
There are other sources of stem cells available like bone marrow and peripheral blood but none of them are as pure or a perfect match for your baby. Doing a bone marrow stem cell transplant to treat Leukemia can be a very invasive procedure for both donor and recipient. It is very expensive and you run a high risk of rejection, infection and the chances of finding a donor are reported at 1:100 000.
In contrast to an umbilical cord stem cell transplant, the costs are less, the treatment is delivered intravenously, the risk of rejection and infection is much lower and if you have your children’s stem cells in storage you have a near perfect tissue match for your child.
WHAT MAKES LAZARON DIFFERENT FROM OTHER COMPANIES?
- Lazaron is the only Stem Cell Storage facility in Southern Africa publicly listed on the JSE (PLC). Being a part of a PLC ensures we adhere to certain corporate governance’s and do not trade at will like a private company. The board of Lazaron has to report to the board of the holding company, its shareholders and publishes annual reports.
- Our contract with you does not expire after 10 or 20 years which means your stem cells will remain safely in our care for as long as you require.
- Lazaron has an annual storage fee in place. This fee has been kept separate to protect you and your stem cells in the future. Our storage fee is a minimal amount and currently R168 (incl VAT) per year. This payment is only made once a year and works out to approximately R14 a month. Lazaron feels that this is a sound business principal that should be practised by all private stem cell banks.
The benefits of banking your baby’s stem cells for the future are endless and a once in a lifetime opportunity.
