The Rhode Island Blood Center has started collecting umbilical cord blood from infants who are born at Women and Infants, creating a fresh supply of stem cells that have no moral or ethical questions raised for the donor and the recipients. At a press conference yesterday, the Rhode Island Blood Center invited several speakers to outline the potential for a public cord blood bank here in Rhode Island.

“Cord blood stem cells do not have come from a destroyed embryo, or a destroyed anything,” said Dr. W. Dwayne Lawrence, the Chief of Pathology at Women and Infants Hospital, “and they can be used to make anything. They are like kids who haven’t decided what they want to be when they grow up. All they need is a ‘key’ to be give them direction and they are differentiated into any number of useful things.”

Lawrence said most of the wonders of these umbilical stem cells are in the future but a number of successful uses have been found and proven to be successful with at least one hereditary disease.

“There are some people who are willing to say that sickle cell anemia has been cured with stem cells,” said Lawrence, who is quick to tell you he has no expertise in the manipulation of stem cells but expresses enthusiasm for the future of stem cell research. “They are wonderful things that promise to be very effective in helping people. And to think that we used to just throw them away,”

The source of this cellular building material has been collected from willing mothers since May 11. The RIBC and the Women & Infants Hospital began collecting umbilical cord blood from newborns in a pilot program involving the Rhode Island Blood Center, Women & Infants Hospital and Community Blood Services of New Jersey to determine the feasibility of establishing the first public cord blood bank in New England. The new bank will be on the cutting edge of stem cell research and provide a source of lifesaving stem cells for the treatment of dozens of diseases. Cord blood stem cells have been used to treat certain cancers and research continues to determine if cord stem cells can successfully be used in the treatment of such diseases as diabetes, Parkinson’s, heart disease, stroke, brain injuries and several other conditions. Its usefulness in cancer therapy was demonstrated yesterday, in the form of Sue and Matt Prato, who were there to talk about Matt’s experiences with cancer therapy.

Matt was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia in November of 2005. Matt has endured hundreds of days in the hospital, hundreds of blood transfusions and a bone marrow transplant. He relapsed and was told his chances were slim. Now, after the umbilical cord blood transplant, Matt has been in remission for nearly two years.

At 16, with his baseball cap slightly askew, he is witty, full of spirit and determined. He admonished the doctors who cared for him to be more positive about his treatment and their setbacks.

“They would act like it’s the end of the world,” said Matt. “And it’s not. You have to keep believing.You just look forward. You never think that you’re going to get stuck here forever.”

Matt’s remission is a relief to his mother. His little sister, Maggie, died of cancer at 14 months old.

“When Matt was diagnosed, we felt we [already] did our time,” said Sue. “It’s not going to happen to us twice.”

Matt recovered from Lyme disease and the family thought it had come back when Matt had difficulty breathing and had to stop running in gym class.

“I was afraid it was Lyme disease again, so I pushed for blood work,” she said. “We went to the hospital. More blood work. A spinal tap and he received a really tough course within a week.”

With AML, Sue said, Matt’s only chance was a marrow transplant. His older sister was a perfect match for a transplant; however, he relapsed a year after the transplant. With renewed hope, they had an umbilical cord blood transplant.

Matt is now back in high school, a freshman because he missed so much school due to hospitalizations. He’s still not ready to participate in pickup games in basketball, baseball or football but he and his mother have extend a great deal of gratitude for donors and the mothers who had the foresight to save their child’s umbilical blood.

“It only takes 45 minutes to donate blood,” Sue said. “It’s not like you can’t spare it. It’s saving somebody’s life.”

She said Matt had hundreds of transfusions before the cord blood therapy and pointed out that’s a lot of blood for one kid – all that blood has to be replaced for others’ needs.

Umbilical cord blood from Women & Infants is shipped to the Community Blood Services public cord bank in Allendale, N.J., for processing and storage. Testing of the cord blood is done by both centers.

Research continues to determine that cord blood cells can be used in the treatment of existing diseases like diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, heart disease and stroke. It is already showing promise for brain injuries.

“I’m sure it will give hope to a lot of people with spinal cord injuries,” said Lawrence. “Imagine being able to fix a spinal cord injury with stem cells.”

Community Blood Services estimates between 60,000 to 90,000 cord blood units are currently stored in public banks in the United States, about half the yearly target of the National Marrow Donor Program. Many patients have been unable to find a bone marrow match and cord blood transplant is their last hope.

“Up to now, most of the donors have been caucasians,” said Jim Matrisciano, vice president of CBS’s stem cell division, who wants to reach out to other ethnic and income groups not currently in the loop. “We have very few black or Latino donors. That has to change.”

The Blood Center has started an extensive educational campaign to promote the importance of donating cord blood. They want to assure people giving umbilical blood has no effect on the baby or its mother.

“Cord blood donation is an incredible, painless way to save someone’s life,” said Dr. Carolyn Young, the Rhode Island Blood Center’s chief medical officer. “There is no controversy, unlike embryonic stem cells.”

The cord blood is collected at the birth of the baby and the blood is frozen.

“There are no fees to donate cord blood or to store it for public use,” said Young.

Warwick House Rep. Eileen Naughton was instrumental in getting legislative assistance for the public cord blood bank and say she is still in awe of all the possibilities the cord blood represents. Naughton was particularly animated yesterday about the possibilities.

“We used to have to wait until a child has gone through school and college before they can contribute to their community,” she said. “Now they can contribute something truly amazing to the community the minute they are born.”