IS CORD BLOOD A VIABLE TREATMENT FOR CHILDHOOD LEUKEMIA?

Posted by Prapti Chauhan on November 9th, 2020

Leukemia is a deadly type of cancer, and it is the most prevalent type of blood cancer found in infants. This cancer starts in the bone marrow, where red and white blood cells are born. In this disease, the white blood cells (WBCs), which are the soldiers of our body, start multiplying exponentially. These abnormal WBCs then outgrow the number of healthy cells and start travelling through the bloodstream to different parts of the body. Eventually, they start affecting the organs in the body and thus, making the body vulnerable to infections.

Types of Leukemia in infants

In infants, most forms of blood cancer are acute in nature, i.e., they escalate rapidly. The following are the different types of this disease found in children:

1. Acute lymphocytic (lymphoblastic) Leukemia (ALL)
2. Acute myelogenous (myeloid, myelocytic, non-lymphocytic) Leukemia (AML)
3. Hybrid or mixed-lineage leukemia
4. Chronic myelogenous Leukemia (CML)
5. Chronic lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)
6. Juvenile myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML)

Of these 6 types, ALL and AML are the most common variety of Leukemia occurring in children. Excess exposure to radiation, family history of immune system-related conditions, genetic disorders, Down syndrome, Bloom syndrome, myelodysplasia, etc. can increase the child's risk of getting Leukemia.

Symptoms of childhood leukemia:

Following are the most commonly found symptoms in children with Leukemia:

• Breathing trouble
• Anemia
• Dizziness and headaches
• Bruising and bleeding
• Abdominal swelling
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Frequent infections and fever
• Poor appetite and weight loss
• Joint and bone pain

Stem Cell Treatment for Leukemia

When it comes to the treatment of Leukemia, chemotherapy is used to target rogue cells and eliminate them. However, one major drawback of this therapy is that the strong drugs used harm even the normal cells. Therefore, these days a combination of high doses of chemotherapy and stem cell transplant is used to improve the chances of curing Leukemia in children. While the bone marrow is destroyed by chemotherapy, it is followed up with stem cell therapy which helps in restoring the blood-forming stem cells found in the bone marrow.

The stem cells used in such a transplant can come from blood, bone marrow or the umbilical cord. As finding donors whose blood is compatible with the patient's blood isn't easy, umbilical cord blood collected from your child or that of your child's sibling can be used to treat Leukemia effectively. Even bone marrow transplant relies heavily on donor match for the treatment to work. In case, there is a mismatch; the body rejects the newly transplanted bone marrow. According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, umbilical cord blood cells show a lesser chance of graft-versus-host disease where the new cells start attacking the body of the patient after transplant. This is, however common in bone marrow transplants.

In another research published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in Sept 2016, the researchers compared cord blood and bone marrow transplants in the treatment of leukemia patients. It was observed that patients who received cord blood transplant tended to live longer and had a lesser likelihood of relapse. These researches show a promising future for the use of cord blood in curing Leukemia in children. Experts are exploring different new therapies with the help of cord blood.

So, when the time comes for you to choose cord blood banking, consider making a life-saving investment for your baby's future.

Author Bio: Prapti Chauhan is a freelance content writer by her profession and has over 11 years of enriching experience into blogging and article writing. Over the years, she has gained popularity as a content creator who specialises on topics such as pregnancy, parenting and new-born childcare. However, her forte is on writing articles on cord blood banking, stem cell preservation.