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Donated umbilical cord blood treats deadly illnesses
When Max Silberg was born, blood from his mother's umbilical cord was donated to Rhonda Kottke -- which helped save her from leukemia.

January 8, 2007

Rhonda Kottke owes her life to two little babies.

Doctors used the newborns' umbilical cord blood to treat Kottke's leukemia, and the Chicago woman has been cancer-free for 4½ years.

Umbilical cord blood usually is discarded, along with the rest of the afterbirth. But the American Academy of Pediatrics is urging parents to donate to public cord blood banks.

More than 5,500 such transplants have treated life-threatening diseases such as leukemia and immune-system disorders.

Each month, about 300 Chicago area babies donate to a blood bank, where cord blood is stored at minus 320 degrees. There's no risk to mother or baby.

Minority donors needed
With his parents' permission, Max Silberg donated his cord blood when he was born three months ago at Prentice Women's Hospital.

"It's his first charitable act," said his mother, Sharon Silberg.

But fewer than 5 percent of Chicago area babies donate. Glenview-based ITXM Cord Blood Services hopes to increase collections to 375 donations a month.

ITXM is one of 18 cord blood banks storing cord blood from 48,000 babies. The federal goal is 150,000 units. Blood banks say they especially need donations from blacks and other minorities.

Before undergoing a cord blood transplant, a recipient typically gets high-dose chemotherapy or radiation. This destroys diseased blood cells as well as healthy ones. The patient then gets an infusion of cord blood stem cells, which develop into replacement blood cells.

Such patients also could be treated with stem cells from the bone marrow of adult donors. But cord blood transplants offer certain advantages.

Cord blood is less likely to contain infectious diseases. And in cases where there are not optimal matches, the immune cells from donated cord blood are less likely to attack the patient, said Dr. James Nachman, a University of Chicago pediatric oncologist.

'I probably wouldn't be here'
Most cord blood transplants are done on children because there aren't enough cells to treat an adult. However, doctors have begun treating adults with cord blood from two babies.

That's what happened in Kottke's transplant. Kottke, 34, was diagnosed with AML leukemia in late 2001 and underwent a cord blood transplant.

"Without a cord blood donation, I probably wouldn't be here," she said.

jritter@suntimes.com

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How cord blood is collected

HOW TO DONATE YOUR BABY'S CORD BLOOD

At least four weeks before your due date, call (877) 448-2673 and ask for a collection kit. Fill out the forms and take the kit along when you give birth. The hospital will do the rest.

You may not donate if you are an insulin-dependent diabetic or a cancer survivor, are expecting twins or triplets, are under 18, or have used donor sperm or eggs.


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