Expert identifies treatment for common child cancers
MANILA, Philippines - A medical expert on cellular therapies said expecting parents should consider storing their infants’ cord blood right after delivery as it could be used later for treatment of common cancers among Filipino children.
In an interview, CordLife Medical Philippines, Inc. medical director Dr. Arvin Faundo, FPSP said cord blood collected from the umbilical cord and placenta contains stem cells that are medically used as treatment for common child cancers like leukemia and lymphoma.
In 2005, the Philippine Cancer Society identified leukemia as the most common illness of children, accounting for 44.4 percent of all childhood cancers. Leukemia is followed by brain and spinal cancers, carcinomas, retinoblastoma, and lymphomas.
“Cord blood stem cells can regenerate a patient’s blood and immune system after cancer treatments such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy, which destroys cancer and normal blood cells alike,” says Dr. Faundo.
Stem cells, the building blocks of the blood and immune system, have the ability to assign themselves into other cell types. They are currently used in regenerative and transplant medicine.
In addition, the use of cord blood stem cells is not limited to common child cancers. “About 80 diseases, most of them common among Filipinos, can also be treated using stem cells gathered from cord blood,” notes Dr. Faundo.
CordLife Medical Philippines, Inc. is part of the CordLife group, which operates the region’s largest network of private cord blood banks. It is the Philippines’ first world-class cord blood processing and storage facility registered with the Department of Health.
For more information on cord blood banking, visit www.cordlife.com/ph or call hotline 710-9195.
