|
Collection of Adult Stem Cells
1. How new is adult peripheral blood stem cell collection?
Collection and the successful therapeutic application of stem cells harvested from adult peripheral blood have only recently come into prominence in the clinical treatment setting. Historically, adult stem cells taken from bone marrow and successfully applied clinically have been practiced for more than 40 years. The first cord blood collected adult stem cells transplant took place in the late 1980’s. Since that first transplant, it is estimated that more than 20,000 stem cell transplants have taken place. In more recent times, scientists discovered that adult stem cells could also be extracted from other body tissues. Most recently, convenient and inexpensive collection of adult peripheral blood stem cells has come into prominence with transplant successes increasingly being demonstrated in the clinical setting in a number of disease states. The most commonly reported recent applications have been the experimental treatment of cardiovascular disorders such as critically ill patients with congestive heart failure and those with seriously damaged heart tissue following severe heart attacks.
2. How does AdultCells collect my adult stem cells?
AdultCells, LLC will collect your adult peripheral blood in a manner consistent with what you might normally experience when providing your blood specimen for a blood test. Our certified and insured health care professional will collect your specimen using our customized AdultCells APB™ Collection Kit.
3. Is collection amount important?
Regardless of amount collected, studies have shown that the stem cell specimens will require expansion, programming and/or reprogramming prior to transplantation to enhance engraftment. The AdultCells’ APB™ Collection Kit is provided to help your caregiver optimize blood collection. The ideal collection will consist of approximately 50mL from an adult for testing, processing, cryopreservation and storage.
4. Is there any risk during collection?
No more so than with any standard blood draw. The procedure is the same as that performed by phlebotomists when drawing blood for any diagnostic test at a hospital setting or in a doctor’s office.
5. Why has AdultCells chosen the standard method of adult peripheral blood collection rather than what is called the apheresis blood collection process?
AdultCells chose to employ the natural blood drawing technique proven in use over decades by hospitals, blood banks and other regulated and certified blood drawing laboratories and centers rather than the apheresis method. For several reasons, AdultCells felt this was in the best interest of its clients. The blood drawing technique AdultCells uses is similar to what a client would experience if they were providing a specimen of blood for blood testing purposes. The AdultCells blood collection method is a simpler, safe, convenient, proven and far more cost effective method of drawing blood than the apheresis method. Apheresis has its place; however, it is a very inconvenient, time consuming, considerably more expensive and potentially troublesome to the donor method of blood collection. Apheresis is a machine driven process that is used to extract fluids and cellular elements from blood that is withdrawn from donors that is then reinfused into the donor or patient after harmful elements have been extracted, or after certain blood components are extracted for future therapeutic applications. The apheresis blood drawing procedure is sometimes employed in the hospital setting most often to be used in treating seriously ill and compromised patients who require in-patient blood cleansing of harmful elements, or collection of immune globulins, or platelets, or for blood drawn extraction of pre-stimulated stem cell production and output for immediate reinfusion into compromised patients as an emergency measure to attempt to alleviate or cure a life-threatening disorder or disease. The apheresis procedure is also employed at some blood banks to harvest platelets. AdultCells consciously chose not to employ this type of unnatural, drug stimulated and machine driven stem cell extraction and collection process with healthy clients in an outpatient setting for several reasons. Using the apheresis process for stem cell harvesting with healthy patients requires the artificial stimulation of stem cell production and output by the donor’s bone marrow by employing injections of growth stimulating hormones several days prior to the actual apheresis collection procedure. In the process such hormones may also have potential to stimulate other body cells, some of which the donor may not wish to stimulate. The process would also require a return to the donor site several days following stem cell stimulation to undergo the apheresis process, which itself requires injection of an anti-coagulant to mitigate the potential for blood clotting during and following the apheresis procedure. Both the anti-coagulant and the apheresis process can also have some unpleasant effects on a small percentage of donors. Additionally, apheresis is a very costly procedure by contrast to the natural adult peripheral blood collection method AdultCells has chosen to offer its clients.
|
