"Baby, you are finally here!" On February 5, as a baby boy cried loudly, Liu Ying (pseudonym) and her husband from Guizhou waited happily for the arrival of their second baby. Their 3-year-old daughter Jiajia also Ushered in the hope of health.
Jiajia was diagnosed with β-thalassemia major when she was 3 months old. Due to insufficient hematopoietic function, she relied on regular blood transfusions to maintain her life. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the only cure.
Struggling to find a suitable match, on the advice of doctors, in 2023, a couple carrying the thalassemia gene "customized" a healthy baby through in vitro technology. From the moment he was conceived, Erbao was placed with double expectations and given a special mission - to use his umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cells to save his sister Jiajia and ignite another life.
Right now, Erbao's umbilical cord blood is about to carry healthy seeds and be sown in her body to rebuild her hematopoietic and immune functions.
Jiajia’s parents are looking forward to the birth of their second child. (Source: Provided by the interviewee)
"I was born to save my brother or sister"... In the cord blood bank, cases of giving birth to save babies occur from time to time. Since the world's first umbilical cord blood transplant in 1988, umbilical cord blood has saved thousands of patients.
Why can umbilical cord blood often become a life-saving straw? As one of the seven cord blood banks approved by the state, what stories happened at the Zhejiang Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank? Recently, Chao News reporters visited the Zhejiang Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank and unveiled how umbilical cord blood can save lives.
The possibility of having a baby and saving the baby
With more than 9 years of experience in the industry, Yu Yasheng, a staff member in the clinical department of Zhejiang Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank, has heard that many families have the same desire as Liu Ying - when a baby is diagnosed with a blood disease, It is hoped that the umbilical cord blood of the second child can be used to save the first child. However, not all families are able to do so.
"Among unrelated people, the probability of HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) matching is one in 100,000. Among compatriots, the probability of HLA matching is 25%, but once it is not completely If they are consistent, there may only be one or two points that are consistent, and transplantation cannot be performed." Yu Yasheng said.
Around 2020, because her 15-year-old son was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (mds), an Anhui mother also decided to give birth to a baby to save her. "Because there is no cord blood bank in Anhui, she came to Hangzhou to give birth. Unfortunately, the matching It was not successful." Yu Yasheng said that the cord blood of this second baby is still stored in the Zhejiang Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank.
Cord blood. Picture provided by the interviewee
There are regrets and blessings. When Xiaoli (pseudonym) was five or six years old, she developed physical abnormalities and was diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia. Fortunately, the umbilical cord blood from my sister's birth was well stored in the Zhejiang Provincial Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank and was a perfect match for Xiaoli's HLA type. So, in 2017, this umbilical cord blood "awakened" after sleeping for three years. In the transplant ward of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, after about a month, her sister's umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cells gradually took root and sprouted in Xiaoli's body, rebuilding a healthy life. "One year later, Xiaoli has basically recovered." Yu Yasheng told reporters.
Similar to Xiaoli, in the past ten years or so, the Zhejiang Provincial Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank has had four or five cases of successful treatment of one child with umbilical cord blood from a second child.
The recovery of umbilical cord blood
Umbilical cord blood is the blood collected from the umbilical vein after the umbilical cord is cut off after delivery. In the past, cord blood was treated as medical waste because the value of it was not understood. Later, scientists discovered that umbilical cord blood is rich in hematopoietic stem cells. At the same time, the hematopoietic stem cells in umbilical cord blood are younger, have stronger differentiation potential, and have a lower risk of rejection after transplantation.
"It can be used to treat more than 80 diseases including the blood system, immune system, hereditary metabolic diseases and some congenital diseases." Yu Yasheng said, for example, patients with leukemia, aplastic anemia, thalassemia, etc. may all be affected by umbilical cord blood. Get treatment.
In the Zhejiang Provincial Cord Blood Bank, staff are preparing umbilical cord blood. Photo provided by the interviewee
Longlong was also a patient with severe aplastic anemia and his life was in danger.In February 2022, when he was only 3 years old, he was struck by bad luck. More and more red spots appeared on his body and he was no longer lively and active. This disease once left Longlong's parents at a loss, until they heard the attending doctor say, "Currently the most effective way to treat severe aplastic anemia is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation." They were particularly excited. They remembered that three years ago, when Long Long was born, the umbilical cord blood was stored for the child at the Zhejiang Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank. "Who would have thought that it was just a rainy day plan at the time, but it really became a life-saving straw for the child."
a Many months later, at the end of March 2022, the liquid nitrogen transfer tank containing Longlong's autologous umbilical cord blood was sent to Tianjin. This fire of life was quickly injected into Longlong's body to help him fight the disease.
Now, 4-year-old Longlong’s physical condition has improved greatly and he can walk normally. "We are unfortunate that the baby got this disease; but we are also very lucky because we have saved a copy of our autologous umbilical cord blood." Looking back on the treatment process over the past year or so, Longlong's mother was filled with emotion: "The transplanted autologous umbilical cord blood was not excreted. Allergy, the child suffered a lot less. Now it seems that our decision to save the umbilical cord blood was very wise. Although the treatment process was very difficult, we finally saw hope." Longlong's mother said that now, colleagues around her , friends also started to save cord blood when they gave birth.
In the Zhejiang Provincial Cord Blood Bank, staff are preparing umbilical cord blood. Picture provided by the interviewee
The precious gift of life
Currently, there are 7 cord blood banks in my country that have been approved by the National Health Commission, namely: Zhejiang Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank, Guangdong Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank, and Beijing Umbilical Cord Bank. Hematopoietic stem cell bank, Shandong cord blood hematopoietic stem cell bank, Sichuan cord blood hematopoietic stem cell bank, Shanghai umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cell bank, Tianjin umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cell bank.
Since its establishment in 2010, the Zhejiang Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank has accumulated more than 150,000 copies. As of the end of February this year, 1,182 cases of umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cells have been used out of the bank. Yu Yasheng said that the clinical application of umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cells is becoming more and more frequent. "Around 2015, the Zhejiang Provincial Cord Blood Bank only exported a dozen or so cord blood cases a year; now, more than 300 cases are exported a year."
A liquid nitrogen bank that stores cord blood. Photo courtesy of interviewee
Cord blood banks are usually divided into autologous banks and public banks. Individuals pay for self-storage and leave the umbilical cord blood for themselves and their relatives, which means depositing it into an autologous bank. Taking the Zhejiang Provincial Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank as an example, the total cost of self-funded storage of cord blood for 20 years is about 20,000 yuan. In addition to self-storage, umbilical cord blood that meets the storage standards can also be donated to public banks for free and provided to other patients and medical institutions for matching and use, turning it into a precious gift of life.
When two strangers are connected by a piece of umbilical cord blood, as a ferry bridge, Yu Yasheng can often feel the warmth of the world. On January 8, an 8-month-old boy was admitted to the transplant ward of Beijing Jingdu Children's Hospital for umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation due to thrombocytopenic eczema with immunodeficiency syndrome (WAS syndrome). . The umbilical cord blood that was transfused into the baby boy came from Hangzhou, thousands of miles away. It was donated to the public bank by a Hangzhou couple nine years ago.
The parents in Hangzhou were overjoyed when they learned that the umbilical cord blood they had donated could save lives. They also sent a surprise to the family of a sick boy they had never met before - they brought their 9-year-old child with them to bring a pen to the hospital. The other party wrote a letter of encouragement and attached a gift from Hangzhou.
html On March 4, the baby boy finally had a successful transplant and was transferred out of the transplant ward. In addition to excitement, the family was moved to send a thank-you letter to the family in Hangzhou that day, and also sent a gift from Beijing.
Umbilical cord blood is carried out of the library by dedicated personnel. Photo provided by the interviewee
"Whether it is self-storage or donation, you can choose according to your personal health awareness and family situation, but we call on you not to waste this precious biological resource and try to keep the umbilical cord blood." Yu Yasheng said .
(Source: Chao News)
