Cleveland Clinic

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is a rich source of blood stem cells and is capable of being substituting for adult bone marrow as a source of stem cells for bone marrow transplant. Thousands of UCB transplants have been successfully performed, especially in children. The availability, and potential efficacy, of UCB as a treatment for otherwise fatal illnesses like leukemia have prompted some to recommend that all UCB be collected and stored as a safety precaution for the future. These recommendations have led to an industry organized around the collection and storage of UCB.

The companies that have been set up to collect and store UCB advertise their services to expecting parents. They offer security against future serious illness for a significant fee. Parents, however, are not well informed as to the probability that their child, or anyone else in their family, will contract one of those illnesses. Neither do they know what other alternatives to the private storage of UCB are available if one of those illnesses is actually contracted.

This webchat will discuss the pros and cons of UCB collection and storage and will ultimately address the question of whether or not it is a good idea for parents, babies, and UCB collection companies.

Matt Kalaycio, MD, FACP, is Director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Program and the Myeloma Program at Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute. Dr. Kalaycio holds a joint appointment in Cleveland Clinic's Transplant Center and is a Staff member in the Department of Hematologic Malignancies and Blood Disorders, in addition to being a Professor in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. Board-certified in hematology, medical oncology and internal medicine, Dr. Kalaycio's clinical interests are in leukemia and stem cell transplantation.

Dr. Kalaycio has been published in numerous scientific publications including Bone Marrow Transplantation, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Leukemia. He also is the editor of a book on leukemia and co-editor of a book on clinical malignant hematology. His research interests focus on testing new treatments for leukemia.

Dr. Kalaycio received his degree from West Virginia University School of Medicine in Morgantown. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh and fellowships in hematology and medical oncology and bone marrow transplantation at Cleveland Clinic.