Ariella Rosenbaum, Author at CordBank New Zealand

A major meta-analysis published in Pediatrics pooled individual participant data from 11 clinical trials involving 498 children with cerebral palsy and found that cord blood treatment significantly improved gross motor function, with measurable gains at both 6 and 12 months.

What is cerebral palsy?

Cerebral palsy (CP) is caused by damage to the developing brain, usually occurring before or during a baby’s birth, and affects movement, muscle tone, and coordination. Treatment options for improving motor function have remained limited — supportive therapies can help, but there is no established treatment that addresses the underlying brain injury.

Cerebral Palsy in New Zealand

According to the New Zealand Neurological Foundation, cerebral palsy affects 1 in 500 New Zealand children – making it the leading childhood disability in Aotearoa.

The Meta-Analysis

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) has been investigated as a potential treatment for CP, with individual trials indicating it can improve gross motor function. However, differences across studies have made it difficult to draw firm conclusions from any single trial. To address this, researchers conducted an individual participant data meta-analysis — bringing together the raw data from multiple studies for a combined analysis.

The analysis included 498 participant data records from 11 studies. The main comparison of 170 participants treated with UCB and 171 controls found that UCB increased mean GMFM-66 score by 1.36 points at 6 months (95% CI, 0.41–2.32; P = .005) and 1.42 points at 12 months (95% CI, 0.31–2.52; P = .012). The rate of serious adverse events was similar between groups, supporting the safety of cord blood treatment in this population.

Further analysis showed that higher cell doses were associated with greater improvement at both 3 months (P < .001) and 12 months (P = .047). Younger participants — approximately under 5 years — with milder (ambulant) CP showed increased benefits for improving gross motor function.

The authors concluded that UCB is safe and provides benefit for improving gross motor function in some children with CP, and that the findings will help design future trials with greater precision.

Learn more about the meta-analysis here.

A new clinical trial in South Korea is testing whether cord tissue stem cells can improve healing in patients with rotator cuff injuries. In New Zealand, rotator cuff tears are the most common cause of shoulder pain in people over 35, affecting roughly 25% of people over 60 and 50% of those over 80, and current surgical repair has a re-tear rate of up to 40%.

The Phase 1/2a trial injected umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into the damaged tendon, and a long-term follow-up study is now tracking patients for five years — measuring pain, shoulder function, and tear size on MRI. Earlier laboratory research using cord blood-derived MSCs showed partial healing of full-thickness rotator cuff tears without surgery.

Learn more about the clinical trial here.

A recent peer-reviewed study published in Stem Cells Translational Medicine examined cord blood stored for up to 29 years and found no loss in key measures of stem cell function.

Based on current evidence, cord blood remains viable for decades when stored correctly, with no known expiry date.

The researchers assessed total nucleated cell (TNC) recovery and viability, and CD34+ cell recovery and viability. Despite the storage times, the CB potency characteristics remained essentially unchanged, even in the oldest units.

The editorial accompanying the study was titled: “Cord Blood Stem Cells Do Not Age — Under Proper Banking Conditions.” The author noted that under well-controlled CB manufacturing and storage conditions, there was no evidence of cell damage or product “decay” (deterioration) in the CB units for the storage times evaluated.

Related research published in 2023 from Indiana University examined cord blood units cryopreserved for 27 years. The researchers demonstrated that long-term cryopreserved cord blood retains similar numbers of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells compared with fresh and recently cryopreserved cord blood units. Long-term cryopreserved units contained highly functional cells, yielding robust engraftment in mouse transplantation models. The authors concluded that cord blood units cryopreserved for extended periods retain engrafting potential and can potentially be used for patient treatment.

Read the full study here.

When two-year-old Tommy Bacon was diagnosed with juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia (JMML) – a rare cancer affecting only 1-2 children per million – his only chance of survival was a stem cell transplant. Tommy’s own cord blood had not been stored at birth. But when his baby sister Aria was born, his parents arranged to have her cord blood collected – and it turned out to be a perfect match. Tommy received the transplant at Perth Children’s Hospital and is now cancer-free.

Parents sometimes ask whether it’s important to store cord blood from each child, or whether one child’s stored unit is enough. Siblings have a 25% chance of being a perfect match, a 50% chance of being a partial match, and a 25% chance of not being a match at all. In Tommy’s case, it was his sister’s cord blood — collected as a precaution — that saved his life.

Read Tommy’s story here.

In a world first move, Sweden has introduced legislation allowing grandparents to receive paid parental leave while caring for their grandchildren. The new law, which took effect last year, enables grandparents to step in and get paid for looking after their grandchildren for up to 3 months of the child’s first year.

The goal is to provide Swedish families with greater flexibility and support in managing childcare, particularly during the early stages of a child’s life.

Sweden was the first country in the world to implement paid parental leave for fathers, a milestone achieved 50 years ago.