Cord Blood Cells | Theoretical Possibilities of Cord Blood Cell Treatment

Theoretical Possibilities of Cord Blood Cell Treatment

Mitchell Forslind appeared to be a healthy two year old. But his mom Fran noticed something odd. He started to walk a little differently, and fell down a lot. Doctors confirmed Mitchell had a rare, deadly genetic disease called Krabbe's disease. Krabbe's disease results from an inability to create a key enzyme that prevents the accumulation of toxic substances resulting in damage to the nervous system.

Mitchell was slowly but steadily deteriorating. “"We were devastated. Seeing that there was no cure for Krabbe disease, we knew that our child would die from the disease. That’s a day we’ll always remember,"” says Mitchell’s mom, Fran Forslind. But, because of the work of Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg at Duke University’s Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant Program, now there is hope for families like the Forslinds.

Duke is one of only a handful of centers worldwide infusing children who have deadly inherited conditions such as Krabbe with cord blood stem cell infusions. These cord blood stem cells come from umbilical cord blood, obtained when the cord is cut. The cord blood transfusion is given just like a blood transfusion. “The cord blood cells, by replacing the bone marrow, becomes the factory to produce the enzyme that the child is missing for the rest of their life,” says Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg of Duke University. And now, what Duke researchers have just discovered, for the first time, is that damaged organs are amazingly repaired by the cord blood cells.

It’s a landmark finding with broad implications. "“The cord blood cells are actually traveling to damaged tissues, changing into the cells of those tissues and repairing the damage,”" reports Dr. Kurtzberg. For example, on a brain MRI of a child with Krabbe’s disease, there is reversal of brain tissue destruction. So, if these umbilical cord blood cells can actually go to the heart and the brain and replace cells destroyed by inherited diseases in children, then the next logical question is, what about adults? Can cord blood cells be used to treat stroke victims who’ve lost brain cells, or heart attack victims who’ve lost functioning heart tissue? Dr. Kurtzberg says right now she doesn’t want to give people the wrong impression about what can be accomplished with cord blood cells, but says, “The theoretical possibilities of cord blood cell treatment are very exciting.”

Sadly, the infusion came too late for Mitchell. He died of complications following his transplant. But for the Forslinds, cord blood has proven to be a life-saving nectar. Both of Mitchell’s younger brothers Jason and Kyle were found to have the disease. Kyle had his transplant and is expected to live a normal life. “He wasn’t walking when he was here, the last time he came to visit us he ran into the room. That’s a miracle for a child with Krabbe.” And for the youngest son, Jason, who just received his bone marrow tranfusion, life is expected to be long and healthy. The transfusion is given after the child’s original bone marrow is destroyed by radiation treatment so that the defective cells produced by that marrow are no longer produced. Then the marrow is replaced with the stem cell infusion. Those stem cells become bone marrow and go to the damaged organs and become healthy heart cells and nerve cells.

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