Save the Cord Foundation:  When were you first diagnosed with cancer and what type of cancer was it?  

Keri:  I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) on August 5th, 2014.  I had gone into the urgent care clinic because I knew I was anemic, and I had tickets to a Paul McCartney show that night.  I didn't think I was going to be well enough to attend, so I went in to clinic hoping they could give me a shot of iron, or something.  Two days later after "seeing some funny cells in my blood," I went in for a bone marrow biopsy and the doctor said - "well, we are here to find out what kind of cancer you have."  I was shocked to say the least.  I went home and prayed that I would at least have a chance to fight.  I went in the next day and found out I had ALL, which is pretty rare in adults, and was admitted immediately after my appointment and started treatment that day.

Save the Cord Foundation:  Why was cord blood offered as a treatment choice for you?  Were you participating in a clinical trial?
​
Keri:  I fortunately had a lot of matches, both cord blood and bone marrow.  Looking back, I can see that they were trying from the start to get me to transplant, because 1) I was relatively healthy (minus the cancer), 2) I responded very well to treatment, and 3) my gene that had mutated and grown had transformed back to normal and that was a good prognostic indicator.  My doctors at the University of Minnesota ultimately chose a perfectly matched 6/6 cord blood unit for my transplant.  I was also given the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial but, in my case, this required switching my donor about a week before I was scheduled for transplant to a 4/6 match that was expanded, as part of the clinical trial.  But, I was uncomfortable with the lower matching, so I asked to be switched back to the 6/6.  I asked why they wanted to switch to the 4/6 match and why they had chosen that cord, and they simply replied that the algorithm they wrote had changed.  I'm glad I went with that 6/6 match, because I am here today and living life.

Save the Cord Foundation:  How was your cord blood transplant different from your experience with chemo and other methods of treatment?

Keri:  Transplant was very much the same, but different in intensity than my previous three rounds of chemo.  I had three rounds of Hyper CVAD and 6 rounds of intrathecal chemo before transplant that got me into complete remission.  Most of the same chemo I had previously were what I received before transplant, although my doctor called this dosage an "atomic bomb" of chemo.  I also had eight rounds of total body radiation before the transplant.  All of this combined completely wiped out my own immune system.  Because of the much higher doses, I was a lot sicker after.  For every round of treatment and for transplant, I had to be hospitalized because I had zero white cell count.  I was in the hospital around 100 days between August - December 2014.  It all happened very quickly.  I had my transplant only four months after diagnosis.

Save the Cord Foundation:  What is your advice to those currently diagnosed with cancer?

​Keri:  My advice would be to listen to your doctors and trust that the path they put you on is the right one.  But it is also very important to be your own advocate, and to fight for what you think is right and best for you.  Remember to take care of yourself by keeping moving when you feel up to it and asking for help when you need it.  My mantra has been throughout - this too shall pass.

Save the Cord Foundation:  What is your advice to parents and doctors who are skeptical about cord blood?

​Keri:  My advice would be to educate yourself and learn about all the lives that cord blood can save!  I am here today because a mom donated the cord of her son, who was born somewhere in the Central Time Zone in 2012.  There's a mom and son out there that literally saved my life because they donated their cord blood!  Every day I am thankful for them and for the second chance at life that they've given me.

Cord blood is generally considered medical waste, a.k.a garbage, but it literally saved my life!  I cannot ever thank the people out there enough that have chosen to donate their cords. 

Our team at Save the Cord Foundation wishes to thank Keri for sharing her amazing story with our readers.

​Please share her story with others and let’s encourage every expectant parent to consider how they will #SaveTheCord.

Here are the main points to remember:

1. Donated cord blood is used everyday to treat 80+ life-threatening diseases including many cancers, like ALL.
2. Privately stored cord blood from a healthy individual may be used to treat a sick family member or perhaps for themselves under certain circumstances.
3. However, cord blood that is thrown away as medical waste helps no one and will be gone forever.

Educating parents is only part of the challenge. We must also educate health professionals and key decision makers in government. Public donation programs are too few and far between. The majority of hospitals do not have a donation program for cord blood. Yet, when you hear a story like Keri’s, you wonder why? Why is there not a public donation program in every hospital? Good question!  The answer is often simple – awareness. Lack of awareness leads to lack of interest and, of course, lack of funding. If we want to win the battle against cancer, we need to invest in more cord blood donation programs and encourage hybrid banks who can help fill the gaps.
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Learn more about your options for saving cord blood. Follow our Step-by-Step cord blood guide for parents which looks at both donation and private storage options. 

Meet other cancer survivors from our #WeCanICan: Beat Cancer with Cord Blood series: 

• Diane Paradise: Game Over Hodgkin’s Lymphoma​
  
  
• George Cannette: Stronger Than a Hurricane!
  
  
• Deb Martell: Mother of Four, Won the Battle Against Breast Cancer and Leukemia
  
  
• Theresa Camilleri:  Cord Blood Used for Bone Marrow Transplant to Treat MDS

The Seventh Edition NetCord-FACT (Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy) International Standards for cord blood collection, banking, and release take effect January 15th, 2020. If you haven't had time to fully digest the updated standards, or have questions about preparing your organization to meet them, join Paul Eldridge, PhD, in this installment of the Share the Science webinar series.

Comprised of one steering committee, three subcommittees, and a total of 30 representatives, the committee for the new NetCord-FACT International Standards began their development process in January 2018. The Standards contain important additions and changes to requirements to reflect current processes typical in a cord blood bank. These changes maintain the relevance of the Standards in the cord blood field. The committee’s commitment, expertise, and experience is invaluable to the development of these Standards.

In this timely webinar, Dr. Eldridge, Director of Advanced Cellular Therapeutics Facility at University of North Carolina Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program and chair of the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) standards committee, will review the significant changes to the Seventh Edition of the NetCord-FACT Cord Blood Standards. He will also provide examples for effective implementation.

What will you learn during this webinar?

Attend to learn the major content changes to the NetCord-FACT International Cord Blood Standards, including:

• Full implementation of ISBT 128 and Eurocode
• Partial label at distribution for administration
• Detached segments
• Testing and specification requirements
• Accreditation of HLA typing laboratories

You will also learn specific changes applicable to parts B, C, D, and E of the NetCord-FACT International Cord Blood Standards.

Additional Materials

The FACT Standards webpage was updated with the new Cord Blood Standards, accompanying Accreditation Manual, and other associated documents. These are available to download for free at: http://www.factwebsite.org/cbstandards/. Printed copies can be purchased online at the FACT Store.

There is a new tool highlighting the changes.  A redlined compare document highlighting edits from the 6th to 7th edition is now available.

SHARE THE SCIENCE
with
Paul Eldridge, Ph.D.

Director at the Advanced Cellular Therapeutics Facility,
UNC Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program

"Transition to the 7th Edition of the
NetCord-FACT Cord Blood Standards"

Free webinar.  Open to the public.
​
Thursday, January 16th, 2020 - 12pm Eastern Time
​
*Recording Now Available*

About the Speaker

Paul Eldridge, PhD, is the Director at Advanced Cellular Therapeutics Facility, UNC Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program. Dr. Eldridge’s personal interests are in chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-Ts) and hematopoietic stem cells, with a focus in cancer immunotherapy.

He is currently the chair of the FACT Standards Committee and is a FACT Inspector of cellular therapy processing for minimal and more than minimal manipulation. He is Co-chair of the WBMT Graft Processing Committee.

Save the Cord Foundation and WellSky are proud to welcome Josefine Teeler, as our featured speaker for our next edition of Share the Science on December 12th, 2019. 

​Share the Science is a free webinar series focused on the cord blood industry and the latest research in this field.  As always, we invite both health professionals and the general public to join us for this unique online educational series. Learn more about this exciting educational series here.

​Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) matching for Cord Blood Units (CBU) is much more complex than blood typing. This webinar will cover how to find the best match and what information is needed to select the most optimal CBU based on HLA profiles.  Josefine Teeler, Team Lead - Transplant Center Services for Matchis Foundation will provide information on how matchgrade is determined for CBUs and the guidelines for selection.

She will also discuss the differences between n/6, n/8, and n/10 matchgrade. Attendees will also learn about minimal matchgrade and (permissive) mismatches. By choosing the best CBU for a patient not only HLA is considered, so therefore we will also briefly review the balance between matchgrade, cell dose and diagnosis of the patient.

What will you learn in this webinar?

Attendees of this Share the Science webinar will learn about cord blood unit selection based on HLA profiles and matchgrade.  Josefine will explain how matchgrade is determined. She will go into detail regarding minimal matchgrade and how this is influenced by cell dose and/or diagnosis.  She will review global guidelines as well as the characteristics and types of information regarding the HLA profiles that influence the final cord blood unit selection.

​SHARE THE SCIENCE
with
Josefine Teeler

Search Unit Team Leader at
MATCHIS Foundation

"HLA Matching for Cord Blood"

Free webinar.  Open to the public.
​
Thursday, December 12th, 2019 - 12pm Central Daylight Time

About the Speaker

Josefine Teeler is search unit team lead at Matchis foundation. She is also a search consultant performing analysis of patient’s profiles and Matched Unrelated Donor (MUD) and/or Cord Blood Units (CBU) selections on a daily basis. She advises physicians and clinical immunologists in the Netherlands on selecting the best possible product/donor for their patient taking into account HLA profiles, secondary criteria, virology, accreditation status of registries and (local) legislations.

At Matchis she is also responsible for the development of the internal educational program for new search coordinators and other employees. Apart from these activities, she developed educational materials for students from primary and secondary school regarding the subject Stem Cell transplantation. Ms. Teeler is also involved in the educational committee of the WMDA and is working together with other WMDA members on the revision of the international paper regarding the Search Coordinator job description.