Netcells | Stem Cell Banking | South Africa’s Leading Stem …

There are 2 types of transplants:

Patients are given chemotherapy for blood-related and auto-immune disorders to destroy the existing damaged or diseased bone marrow, and then the new stem cells are infused.

The cord blood stem cells are ready to use and require thawing before they are infused into the patient. If your child requires a stem cell transplant your doctor should contact us for all the necessary documentation to decide if the treatment should go ahead. Next Biosciences will only release the stem cells upon written approval from the parents and the treating doctor indicating the date, time and place of the transplant (to allow us to plan the transport of the unit).

If an allogeneic transplant is needed (for a sibling) then HLA (human leukocyte antigen) match testing needs to take place. This process takes approximately 3 weeks and requires a blood sample from the child who needs the transplant, and we send off a sample of the cord blood (we store 2 extra frozen vials for this purpose). If there is an acceptable match, the doctor will request the stem cells to be transported to their facility. The cost of transport is for the clients own account.

Haemoglobinopathy testing will be done on the donor when the unit is requested for transplant. If the donor is not available, testing may be done on the frozen cryovial sample stored with the unit, which will be submitted by Netcells. This frozen cryovial sample may not be accurately reflective of haemoglobinopathy status, however. The cost of the haemoglobinopathy testing will be for the clients own account.

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Netcells | Stem Cell Banking | South Africa's Leading Stem ...