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While it initially appeared as though Leo would be spared invasive treatments, that unfortunately changed when he was further diagnosed with trilateral retinoblastoma at 6 months of age. This meant that he now had to battle a malignant brain tumor in addition to the eye cancer, and that extensive chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant would be needed.

It was at this time that we could breathe a sigh of relief that we had at least had the foresight to bank his umbilical cord blood at his birth. We had initially hesitated to do so, as we had no reason to expect that anything like this would be in our future; we have no family history of retinoblastoma. We had actually decided not to bank the cord blood of Leo’s sister when she was born just two years earlier. At that time we thought the likelihood that we would ever end up needing it was so slim that it wasn’t a sound investment. Frankly we also weren’t sure about the reliability of the whole process. So just what had changed our minds about cord blood banking before Leo’s birth?

A friend at work banked his baby’s cord blood and after discussing how easy the process was, we decided we should just do it and not put ourselves in a position we may regret further down the line. Needless to say we felt very relieved that we hadn’t just thrown away those precious drops of blood and that our son would now have a better chance to beat the odds because of it.

Leo went on to have the stem cell transplant to replace his bone marrow the week after his first birthday. Almost two years have passed since that time and though it’s premature to say that this battle is completely behind us, we are thrilled to report that Leo is doing phenomenally well. He is a happy active little boy who, much like a typical 3 year old, loves everything related to boats, cars and trucks!

What words of wisdom do we have to share with other parents and parents-to-be following this experience? If you should ever have the great misfortune of finding yourself in a similar situation anything you can do to improve your child’s odds is priceless.

source : Inspection life Bank - Canada

We spoke to our obstetrician about the possibility of collecting the stem cells and he was reluctant, saying that we did not have anything in our background that would warrant such a procedure. We had no expectation of ever using them, but we felt that it was a good thing to do anyway. In spite of the doctor’s objections, we implored him to perform the extraction. Nobody knows what the future holds and our view was that the worst-case scenario was that these stem cells would expire in about 10 years.

On December 22, 2006 our lives changed in a way that cannot possibly be expected. After displaying the classic symptoms, Barrett was diagnosed with incurable, insulin dependent, type 1 diabetes, commonly referred to as juvenile diabetes. There is no history of diabetes or any significant health issues in either of our family backgrounds. It was a shock to my wife and I. They took us into a room and had us practice injecting a sponge rubber ball and told how much insulin to use and told us to call them in month or so to see how Barrett was progressing. We of course had just learned short moments ago that our lives were being completely transformed. We mentioned at the time that we had collected Barrett’s umbilical cord stem cells at birth and inquired whether there was any research being done in this area. We were flatly told that no studies were available and that our son’s disease was something we all had to accept and live with.

That Christmas, instead of wrapping Christmas presents and mourning the change in our lives, my wife and I were diligently trying to find out as much as we could about the disease through on line resources. Christine came across a research study being used at the University of Florida where they were studying the impact of re-infused stem cells on children with type 1 diabetes. He had been recently diagnosed, he was still producing insulin on his own to a degree, and the only question was the quality of the cord blood that had been collected. After all, it had been close to 9 ½ years that this blood had been stored. We are proud to say that the collected stem cells produced extraordinary results.

Fast forward to today. Barrett is still in the “honeymoon stage” of his disease, which means his pancreas is still alive and producing insulin. That is completely unheard of considering Barrett has had the disease for over 3 years now. The original doctors told us that the honeymoon period would last a few weeks to a few months.

There are a couple of unique things about Barrett’s story. First, he is by far the oldest participant in the study. Unlike our experience in Canada, stem cell collection in the United States is subject to all kinds of legislation and political agendas and it can be challenging to find facilities willing to extract the blood in the first place. Our identical twin daughters were born in Santa Monica California (July 1999), and we had unexpected difficulty in getting the delivery room to consider drawing the cord blood. We had to line up the storage facility and make a lot of the arrangements to have the cord blood drawn. I recall being in the delivery room and observing the doctor do the extraction. It really was a simple process and I was surprised at how much resistance we had to this process.

Today, Barrett is a healthy active child in every capacity. He is still producing insulin on his own to this day and his progress has been extraordinary.

This stem cell infusion is not at all the cure for his condition, however because he is producing insulin on his own, the possibility exists that he can be helped as research on this disease continues. We know in our hearts that our decision many years ago to extract and store his cord stem cells has played an integral part in his success.

Source: Inspection Life Bank - Canada

Even though you are a celebrity in the cord blood community, the day to day reality is that you are a regular guy trying to make ends meet and raise a family. Do you have any advice for transplant survivors trying to find a "new normal"?

I've been very blessed that I haven't had long-term side effects from my cord blood transplant. Since I was so young when I had my transplant, living with that is all I ever knew. I was just a kid that wanted to play and get dirty and be like the other kids. After my transplant it took me a while to learn that it was OK to get dirty. So my advice would have to be that it is going to take time to adjust and to not dwell on the bad parts of the process. It is easy to ask "Oh, why me?" and I am sad that many of my friends have passed away. It took me a much longer time to realize that I had to focus on the future and really start living. G-d kept me here for a reason.

Muscat: Cooperation on the use of stem cells in medical treatment and storage of cord blood, which is a rich source of these life-saving cells, is being discussed by Oman and a leading research and treatment centre in Asia.

Preliminary discussions are being held on establishing a centre in Oman and offering training to Omani specialists as well, Seyed Vahid Askari from the international affairs department of Royan Stem Cell Technology Co., told Times of Oman.

He was speaking during the 5th edition of Oman Health Exhibition and Conference, which was recently held at the Oman International Exhibition Centre in Muscat.

Royan Institute is based in Iran and was established in 1991 as a research institute for reproductive biomedicine and infertility treatment.

Askari said that the planned cooperation between Royan and Oman would focus on infertility treatment, use of stem cells in the treatment of various medical conditions as well as storage of umbilical cord blood, which is a valuable source of stem cells.

Stem cells

Stem cells are special blood cells, which are the body’s building blocks for blood, organs, tissue and the immune system and are genetically unique to each baby.

When a baby’s cord blood is stored, a unique biological resource is preserved that is like a self-repair kit for the child and other possible family members.

Royan Stem Cell Technology Co. was founded in 2005 to take, proceed and fulfil the required steps in cord blood banking. The centre has covered the preliminary steps including storing more than 55,000 samples in its public and private banks and opening branches in more than 23 cities nationwide.

Askari explained that cord blood collection is easy and does not pose any medical risk to the mother or the newborn baby.

If stored, cord blood stem cells will be readily available whenever needed, he added.

Cord blood transplants

Doctors have increasingly turned to cord blood stem cells as an alternative to bone marrow transplants. Cord blood stem cells are used in disease treatment to fight over 80 diseases including many forms of malignancies such as leukaemia, autoimmune diseases, lupus, and inheritable diseases such as sickle cell anaemia.

Advantages

One of the advantages of cord blood transplants is that they do not require a perfect match and can be performed in cases that the donor and the recipient are partially matched.

In addition, the immune cells in cord blood seem to be less likely than those in bone marrow from unrelated donors to attack the patient’s own tissues. Cord blood transplants are also associated with lower risk of viral infections.

Omani patients

Askari said that Royan centre is ‘unique’ in the Middle East and even Asia in terms of research and treatment, especially infertility treatment.

“We receive patients from Oman, especially for eye disorder treatment and infertility treatment through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). Now we are trying to promote treatment of certain skin disorders with stem cells,” the official noted.

International specialists and researches who participate at Royan’s conferences have been impressed by the centre’s achievements, he said, adding, “We feel it is important to transfer this know-how to our neighbouring countries and cooperate with them.”

Seminars

Askari said that the institute is keen to share its expertise with universities and health and research centres in Oman and is ready to hold short and long-term seminars in the Sultanate.

Iran has made great progress in medical fields over the past years despite the sanctions, he stated, expressing hope that this potential would be utilised further after the implementation of the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. Askari also noted that the health exhibition in Muscat provided a great networking opportunity for representatives of medical centres from different countries.

techniques and methods in our daily living style. Hence, as the rule to survive, we should keep ourselves updated with such new phenomena and let the old ones left behind.

The more staff is trained with new skills, scientific achievements and technology changes, the more compatible and successful they will be in meeting the organization and society needs. Staff training is considered as one of the most critical and crucial factors in any organization which will lead to the promotion of the whole stand of the organization.

 

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an educational intervention on maternity nurses’ knowledge and attitude regarding cord blood collection and stem cells. Maternity nurses who received an educational intervention would have improved knowledge and positive attitude toward cord blood collection and stem cells than before intervention.

 

Two main tools were used for data collection:

 

I- Structured interviewing questionnaire:

It was designed by the researchers after reviewing related literature.[15, 19] It was written in an Arabic language in the form of close and open-ended questions. It encompassed

two major parts:

 

First part included personal and socio demographic data such as (age, qualifications, and years of experience in delivery room and attendance of training courses about cord

blood collection and stem cells.

 

Second part included nurses’ knowledge about cord blood collection and stem cells. It consisted of (4) sections;

 

_ Section (1) general knowledge regarding umbilical cord, it consisted of (5) items (anatomy, physiology, functions, abnormalities, and proper time of clamping umbilical cord).

 

_ Section (2) knowledge pertaining cord blood collection, it consisted of (9) items (definition, benefits, indications, contraindications, appropriate time of collecting

cord blood, places for cord blood storage, length of time for cord blood storage, barriers of collecting of cord blood, and responsible persons for collecting cord blood).

 

_ Section (3) knowledge concerning technique of cord blood collection, it consisted of (5) items (methods, preparation, components of collection set, precautions of infection control, and technique of cord blood collection).

 

_ Section (4) knowledge pertaining stem cells, it consisted of (5) items (definition, sites, importance of stem cell from umbilical cord blood, uses, and ethical

considerations of obtaining stem cells from umbilical cord).

 

II- Nurses attitude towards cord blood collection and stem cells:

 

This tool was developed by the researchers after reviewing related literatures,[20, 21] to assess nurses attitude pertaining cord blood collection and stem cells and consisted of (16) items such as (Collecting umbilical cord blood immediately after delivery is necessary, cord blood available for life, umbilical cord blood should only be used for baby and his own family . . . etc.).

 

 Conclusion

 

In the light of the study findings, it can be concluded that there was a statistically significant improvement in nurses’ knowledge mean scores , immediately, and three months after intervention, as well as there was a statistically significant difference in nurses’ attitude scores before, immediately, and three months after intervention. The implementation of an educational intervention was effective and significantly improved nurses’ knowledge and attitude towards cord blood collection and stem cells. Furthermore, the above mentioned findings proved and supported the research hypothesis.

 

To get more on details, you can read the whole text as in the pdf file attached to this news.

You may have heard that the stem cells in your baby’s umbilical-cord blood can save lives, but if you’re like most people, you have only a vague notion of how stem cells work — or which diseases they can treat. Right now, certain cancers, blood disorders, and immune disorders, among other conditions, are being successfully treated with cord-blood stem cells — and thanks to cord blood research, the list of conditions and diseases that may be treated by these stem cells is growing.

Why is it important to know about the cord blood research and what types of diseases it can treat? Knowing what cord blood can and can’t do may influence your decision to store your baby’s cord blood with a private bank (for your family’s use) or donate it to a public bank. Here are the facts you should keep in mind as you consider private or public cord blood banking:

Cord Blood Basics 
Cord blood is the blood left over in your baby’s umbilical cord immediately after birth. (Your practitioner harvests the blood in a quick, easy, and painless procedure.) The reason this blood is so valuable is because it contains hematopoietic stem cells, which are cells that have the ability to develop into any type of specialized cell in the blood and immune system and replace or repair these types of damaged cells throughout the body. That makes cord blood ideal for transplantation — the stem cells mutate and regenerate to form healthy blood and immune cells — and makes it a standard treatment for certain diseases such as cancers, blood disorders, bone-marrow-failure syndromes, metabolic disorders, immune-system deficiencies, and other inherited disorders. Even though bone marrow and circulating blood are also used for transplantation when treating these diseases, cord blood is often a better choice because it doesn’t have to match a patient’s tissue type as closely as donated bone marrow or circulating blood does.

Your baby’s cord blood may be used for your child (known as autologous use) or for a close family member (known as allogeneic use), or it may be donated to a public bank and used by a person unrelated to you who in is in need of a transplant and has a similar tissue type (this is also known as allogeneic use).

Cord Blood’s Benefits Now
Currently, there are over 80 diseases that can be treated and potentially cured with the help of a cord-blood transplant. They include:

·         Cancers, including cancers of the blood-immune system (leukemia); those of the lymph system (lymphoma); bone-marrow cancers (multiple myeloma); cancers of the eye (retinoblastoma); and those of the nervous system (neuroblastoma).

·         Blood disorders, including many forms of anemias, which are deficiencies or malformations of red blood cells necessary for carrying oxygen to the body.

·         Bone-marrow-failure syndromes or deficiencies in the bone marrow. These include red-cell aplasia (a condition in which bone marrow lacks red blood cell precursors) and severe aplastic anemia (when bone marrow doesn’t produce enough new cells to replenish blood cells).

·         Metabolic disorders, which are a result of abnormal chemical reactions in the body that disrupt the way it processes energy from food. These conditions include Gaucher’s disease, Hunter syndrome, and Hurler syndrome.

·         Immune-system disorders, which prevent the body from fending off infections, such as X-linked immunodeficiency and severe combined immunodeficiency (also known as “bubble boy” disease).

·         Other inherited disorders such as osteoporosis.

If you have a family member who has a disease that’s treatable with cord blood now, cord blood research shows that transplants from related donors are more successful than ones from nonrelated donors. Still, experts are divided as to how likely it is that your baby will need his own cord blood to cure a disease he may develop in the future. That’s because many diseases that affect the blood and immune systems (and might be helped by cord-blood stem cells) may already exist in your baby’s cord blood. So, for example, if your child has a genetic form of lymphoma, his cord blood may contain that same genetic mutation and wouldn’t be a feasible transplant option — but matched cord blood from a family member, such as a sibling, could be a treatment option.

Cord Blood Research: Future Treatments
What does the future hold for cord blood? Preliminary and promising research through clinical and experimental trials suggests that the stem cells may be able to treat autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes and lupus, neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy, and Parkinson’s disease, brain and spinal-cord injuries, stroke, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, kidney disease, and breast cancer, among other illnesses. So regardless of whether you choose to donate or privately store your baby’s blood, remember that cord-blood banking is proving to be a rich source of life-saving treatments — now and in the future, as the possibilities of cord blood continue to expand.

 

The study appeared in the most recent issue of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. 

TBI patients at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital from 2000 to 2008 were divided into two groups: those who received autologous bone marrow stem cells as part of a pilot study and those who did not. Researchers used the Pediatric Intensity Level of Therapy score to determine the degree of therapeutic intensity that was done to reduce the cranial pressure below the danger zone. 

For those who received the stem cells, researchers noted a significant reduction in the score beginning at 24 hours post-treatment through the first week. Patients who did not receive the stem cells spent nearly twice as much time in neurointensive care - 15.6 days compared to 8.2. 

"Everything we do to treat traumatic brain injury is aimed at reducing the pressure in the brain," said Dr.Charles S. Cox, Jr., principal investigator, professor and the George and Cynthia Mitchell Distinguished Chair in Neurosciences at UTHealth and co-director of the Texas Trauma Institute at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. "We can measure the pressure and there are medications to reduce the water in the brain but all of those have risks associated with them, such as renal failure and kidney problems. Our study showed that with stem cell therapy, we need to do less intervention for a shorter period of time for the patient."

Source: Eurekalert

He had suffered Chemo-Therapy for a couple of times, but each time the disease relapsed after a short while. To save his life, the experts reached to this consensus that Stem Cells Transplantation would be the only solution and of course, the most reasonable one.

       Amir Hossein has got two more siblings whose bone marrows were not matched with the one of Amir Hossein, while the stem cells of his younger brother, Amir Taha, whose cord blood was saved in Royan Stem Cell Technology Company, saved his life because it was completely matched with the ones of Amir Hossein, up to %100.

      In the dim light of Amir Hossein’s life, Cord Blood Stem Cells appeared as the early dawn and opened new horizon to his future life. Now he has got new hope and is making plans for his new life. He wishes to become an engineer in oil and gas industry and serve his country.

      We know there are lots more young boys and girls just like Amir Hossein and we find ourselves accountable to them and to the whole human communities as well. We are keen on this principle and move heaven and earth to put it into effect and bring all people’s hope into existence.

  This motto is well known by those who are familiar with literature, as it was the belief and of “The Three Musketeers” who fought for humanity and equity. Those who didn’t take the world for granted and were symbols of freedom, kind-hearted and generosity.

      Such a soul can be touched throughout our company as well since, we at Royan Stem Cell Technology Company move heaven and earth to keep it alive in good faith and do our utmost to put such a faith into act.

      End of the year means lots of backlogs to be done and putting an end to all or almost most of them. No doubt, we are not an exception and find ourselves in a short of time and cramped conditions with pile of duties supposed to be over. But even under such intermingled circumstances, we can find spare time to enjoy ourselves even at a lunch table.

     It was something happened here in our company as we are approaching the end of the year and we take advantage of every single moment to share some joyful time with our colleagues in a cosy condition.

   In the meantime, as the previous years, the End-of-Year Ceremony was held at Royan Stem Cell Technology, Kowsar Gathering hall through which all company staff came together once more. During the ceremony Dr.Zarrabi, Managing Director of the Company, represented a lecture bringing up some points in regard with the triumphs and achievements made through the last year. He also pointed to the failures and deficits we faced on our way and considered them as the lessons to be kept in mind so that we turn them into advantages and a bridge toward future development. Ayatollah Gholamy was also present in this ceremony and made a speech about some ethical issues and the facts to be observed as we start the New Year. At the end, the staff were entertained with pastries and drinks and received their gifts provided by the company. 

   We all know that the path before us toward development and success would not be that easy and smooth as some may think. We know barriers may rise ironically every other day causing a new challenge and we have experienced deep griefs in parts of our careers, but we take them as fire glazing our spirit and the ladders to be climbed up to bring our dreams into truth.

 

MAY GOD BLESS ALL

HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

On the occasion of the 10^th anniversary of Royan Stem Cell Technology Co; we would like to share our proud and happiness on achievements and progresses we have made so far with our esteemed colleagues and counterparts and all scientific communities and associations all over the world.

 Bringing the importance of umbilical cord blood and growing global findings of the research made on cord blood stem cells into consideration, along with a growing trend in public understanding about stem cells and diseases could be cured by these cells, Royan Stem Cell Technology was founded in 2005 as a joint venture of Royan Institute and LIDCO Company (as the investor) to collect, process and store the umbilical cord blood stem cells. This is both a Private and Public bank (Hybrid Bank) and since the beginning, nearly 50,000 samples have been stored and about 7 stored samples have gone for transplantation purposes up to now. The data represented through this brief, on the occasion of the 10^th anniversary of Royan Stem Cell Technology Company, refers mainly to the Private Bank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right now, we have got 23 offices nationwide and have opened one in Iraq, Erbil which all are actively involved in this field. Table 1 shows the growing trend of our offices through the previous years.

 

 

Growing number of offices in previous years.

 

It should be stated here that the more public understanding about cord blood banking, the more number of expected parents referring to our bank to get their coming infants cord blood stored. This increasing rate can be observed in the table represented below.

Increasing rate in number of contracts made through the last years

 

Though, we, in Royan Cord Blood Bank and Stem Cell Technology Company, observe all rules and standards strictly, there has been a fast growing number in the samples stored.

Number of samples frozen through the last years.

 We have successfully achieved a variety of international standards such as:  ISO 9001:2088 in collecting and processing cord blood stem cells, ISO 1800 1: 2007 and ISO 1400 1: 2004 in ECO friendly and environment preserving, and ISO 100002 in observing customer’s rights. We are constantly observed and investigated by URS Company, a British based company considering the compatibility with global standards. At present, we are making our effort to achieve some more standards such as: Fact-Netcord, AABB and Ihram Ministry of Health.

Right now, this company has hired more than 109 staff directly and created more than 400 job opportunities indirectly all around Iran.

Right now, we perform all quality control tests including HLA Typing, Flow cytometery, Serology, Microbiology and Cloning Assay. The process and dividing the stem cells are done both manually and automatically ( Sepax Method). The main Serology tests being performed on the cord blood samples are as follows:

ü  HBS.Ag

ü  Anti-HBS

ü  Anti-HBC

ü  CMV (IgG,IgM)

ü  HCV.Ab

ü  HIV PCR

ü  HCV PCR

ü  HTLV

ü  RPR

 

 

Our HLA bank has stored the genetic centers of more than 30,000 shown in the table below.

 

Number of samples stored in HLS Bank through the last years

 

The following table represents the number of demands made on HLA demanding and the consequent results.

 

Royan Cord Blood and Stem Cell Technology Company enjoys a Research and Development Department ( R&D) through which we make a research and clinical study on a wide variety of diseases could be cured with stem cells. No wonder, as we go ahead with new findings and potentials regarding cord blood stem cells, R&D department finds itself in arena of making crucial efforts on the path toward organizational development and enrichment.

In the meantime, thanks to our scientific staff and researchers, we have taken fruitful measures in research activities including:

• Releasing and publicizing articles and magazines

• Taking part in various national, regional and international congresses, conferences and exhibitions

• Representing two articles in the 28^th Immunogenic Congress held in Stockholm

• Representing one article about evaluation of blood factors of the cord blood samples stored in cord blood bank and its relationship with CD34  in the 11^th Symposium on cord blood bank held in San Francisco

• Registering a patent on isolating the stem cells of mesenchyme in Wharton Jelly, taking advantage of PBS which is so fast and economic

 

And some more to just name a few. The data represented here are so concise and in brief, not to taking a long time or get you bored. We invite our counterparts from various related scientific communities and centers from far beyond borders to share their experiences, knowledge and experiences with us so that we all can play our roles much more constructive than before and pay the debt we owe to the human communities toward enjoying a healthy life. 

 

A delegation from Royan Stem Cell Technology Company made visits to some cord blood centers to Dubai, including Cells4Life Company and DCRC (Dubai Cord Blood Research Center). During these visits, two sides brought up and discussed many scientific and commercial issues and exchanged their experiences in this regard.

Surprisingly, confessing the growing demand to cord blood stem cells, all participants emphasized on establishing and holding regional scientific society so that it can create, establish and make required arrangements to run regional scientific conferences, congresses and workshops in the arena of Cord Blood, Stem Cells and all related fields.

Further, they all agreed on a thirst to more research on the potentials of Cord Blood Stem Cells still hidden which should be unveiled and quenched through an untiring effort and coalition of all scientists in this realm of science.

At the end, considering the critical features and barriers fallen before this field of activity, all of them found it a necessity to launch a campaign for more research and studies to be conducted under the umbrella of mutual understanding and endeavor.

Royan Delegation also made a visit to Iranian Hospital in Dubai and held meetings with the hospital authorities and toured the new building of the hospital which was guided with Mr.Boka, Equip & Launch Project Manager of hospital. 

The Cord Blood Association has issued interim guidelines for screening cord blood donors to prevent banking any donations that contain Ebola Virus. The concern is to prevent donation from a person who is infected with Ebola Virus but is not yet symptomatic. Public health agencies around the world have cooperated to update their guidelines for screening blood donors, whereas these guidelines apply to cord blood donors.

Ref:  http://parentsguidecordblood.org/news/45/