All About Community Stem Cell Banking

Community stem cell banking is a practice where a community pool is created by the stem cell banker. The stem cells are preserved for the exclusive use of their community members. A member of the community can find a perfect match in another baby’s stem cells.

Why Choose Community Banking?

Community banking increases your chances of finding an exact match for your stem cell requirement. You can scout for a match within your community.

Once a child contracts a disease that has a possibility of being treated with stem cells, the baby’s own stem cells is not always a perfect match. Sometimes another baby’s stem cells could be a better match. A better match increases the chances of successful treatment.

This is similar to finding a good match for bone marrow or a kidney transplant. One can always find a better match outside the family.

Benefits of Community Stem Cell Banking

6 wonderful benefits of community banking are:

1. It increases your chances of finding a donor match. LifeCell – the pioneer in this technology has a number of cord blood units qualified for community banking.
2. It saves you precious time as you don’t have to search in the public bank. You have a full bank of possible matches within your own community.
3. Since the matching is done within a community, multiple samples can be drawn without wastage and records are kept for future references.
4. According to an ICMR study, if you are part of a community bank with over 50,000 samples, your chances of finding a successful match are 97% higher.
5. Many community banking providers have options that can help both baby and the immediate family members to find an exact match.
6. When you sign up for community banking, you don’t have to pay for checking for a match within the community.

How Does Community Banking Work Exactly?

When a member of the community is in the requirement for stem cells to alleviate or cure a rare disease, a match has been searching for. Sometimes even their own siblings can be only a 50% match, sometimes even lesser.

The next step is cross-matching the sample with other samples in the community pool. Once you get a perfect or near-perfect match you can use it for the treatment.

For example – If baby A has a rare disease that it is possible to treat that ailment with the help of stem cell therapy, the parents can request a match in community stem cell banking (that is, if they register themselves in community stem cell banking).

This is then cross-verified and sometimes baby D’s stem cells could be a better match than baby A’s own stem cells or A’s siblings’ stem cells. Then the required number of samples is withdrawn from the preserved cells and given to baby A’s treatment.

Community Banking – Private Banking – What is the Difference?

Both community banking and private banking are offered by private players in the market.

1. Accessibility

While private banking stores the stem cells solely for the use of just the donor or immediate family members in the future, community banking creates a common pool from where the stem cells can be used for any member who is a part of the community. This includes the immediate family of the members too.

2. Cost

When you need a donor,  private banking will charge you for searching, whereas if you a part of a community, checking within the community is free of cost.

Difference Between Community Cord Blood Banking and Public Cord Blood Banking

Some of the major differences between the two are:

Community Banking

• Run by a private player
• Accessible for members within the community
• The chance to find a match is small as only samples within the community is available
• The paperwork for this process is less, as the company carries on the search and match
• Even though one has to pay a premium amount  for storage, the storage time has a limitation
• Unless you choose to donate, you cannot help others in need

Public Banking

• Run by the government
• Accessible for anyone and everyone
• Can take a lot of time as matches from the public pool have to be verified
• The formalities and paperwork required can be high
• It is free of cost and samples stores forever
• You can help a number of people in need

Community VS Private Vs. Public Stem Cell Banking – Which is the Best?

Private banking preserves the stem cells solely for the donor; community banking preserves the stem cells for the donor and other members of the community; public banking is run by the government and stem cells are stored for anyone and everyone.

Public stem cell banking has a wider scope to find a suitable match. But, it can take a lot of time and a number of formalities. On the other hand, in community stem cell banking, the scope is lesser but the entire process is faster and cheaper.

Private stem cell banking can give you a guaranteed 100% match for the donor, 50% match for siblings, and 25% match for immediate families like parents and grandparents. When you are looking for a match for a family member, chances of finding a match are much lesser when compared to a community bank or public bank.

If the child has some health condition right from birth or even before, stem cell therapy is the right option to treat it.  In this case, you can opt for private banking. You will have a 100% match and can retain all stem cells for just your baby instead of sharing with others.

However, if you are preserving the stem cells for possible future use, community or public banking can be a better choice as not just your child but even immediate family members can benefit from it.

FAQ’s

1. Is it Worth Storing Stem cells?

Stem cell therapy can treat over 80 diseases. Thus, stem cell storage is worthy of storage than just letting it go to waste after cutting the cord.

2. How is Cord Blood Processed?

Cord blood processing technology is used to safely extract the maximum number of stem cells possible from the blood.

3. What is the Source of Stem Cells?

Stem cells are collected from the umbilical cord blood which is collected once the cord is cut after birth.

4. Which Companies Offer Community Stem Cell Banking in India?

LifeCell is the only company to offer this service in India

5. Can I Benefit From Community Stem Cell Banking?

Yes, you can. You get more access to other stem cells in the community. It increases the chances of getting a match.

6. Is Community Stem Cell Banking Expensive?

It depends on which company you choose. Lifecell has good packages. At the end of the day, it’s worth the money.

7. Will my Baby Get Enough Stem Cells Through Community Stem Cell Banking?

Yes. As your child gets older, they will require more stem cells than what was collected at birth. With community banking, you can get a good match.

8. Can my Family Benefit From Community Stem Cell Banking?

Yes, your entire family can benefit. Finding a match among the community is very high.

Conclusion

Community stem cell banking can save a number of lives and give a new life for many children in need. If you are fortunate enough to not require your baby’s preserved stem cells, it can always save someone else.

Read Also: Stem Cell Banking – A Comprehensive View