Advantages of using Cord blood and Bone marrow stem cells?
Both bone marrow and cord blood stem cells have advantages as well as disadvantages; some conditions dictate the use of one over the other.
Advantages of cord blood Stem Cells:
- Stem cell rejection is less when using Cord blood. Hence it is possible to use cord blood from non-tissue matched donors or a third party.
- Cord blood is available within a short time of three weeks compared to 4 months of time for bone marrow stem cells.
- Cord blood collection does not involve any surgery and is painless with no side effects.
- Contamination does not occur with Cord blood, whereas bone marrow is likely to be contaminated with viruses such as Epstein-Barr or Cytomegalovirus.