Stem cells from the umbilical cord to save a 2 year old

The doctors at the Dallas hospital have used stem cells , coming from the umbilical cord of the child himself stored in a special bank, to treat a very rare form of cancer which frequently leads to death. The boy, named Caden Ledbetter, suffers from neuroblastoma, a rare malignant embryonic tumor characteristic of this age that originates from sympathetic nervous tissue. Last month, as a last ditch effort, doctors took stem cells from Caden's umbilical cord and literally injected them back into his body. Clinicians thus hope that the healthy stem cells will replace the cells and tissues damaged by the tumor that has spread to bone, liver and bone marrow. Stem cell transplantation is still experimental and has rarely been used on someone with neuroblastoma. "It's the second or third time it's been done in the world," said Joel Weinthal, a doctor who operated on Caden. Dr. William Shearer, pediatrics and professor of immunology at Baylor University, said that in most cancers, treatment offers more chances of success with stem cells not coming from the patient himself, but from other donors hopefully less inclined to develop the illness. This should discourage parents from storing their child's umbilical cord in private banks. "The most useful thing to do is to make your baby's placental stem cells available in a public facility because someone may desperately need them," concluded Shearer.