“Latest Stem Cells News”

The Ospedali Riuniti of Bergamo is the top center for the collection of umbilical cord blood in the Lombardy region, said the hospital, which received an award at the Policlinico di Milano (where the umbilical cord blood bank is located) for the second consecutive year for its commitment and professionalism with which it carries out its work, providing an important source of stem cells.

“Our collection program started in 2004,” explained Bruna Pasini, the head obstetrician, also in charge of the collection of umbilical cord blood for the hospital. “At that time we started to collaborate with the Milano Cord Blood Bank, which allowed us to collect over 1,000 units of blood.”

The remaining blood in the placenta after birth contains stem cells similar to those in the bone marrow. They are considered the new frontier to treat many diseases. “About 40-50% of patients with leukemia and lymphomas, who need bone marrow transplants,” explained Mariangelo Cossolini, the organ and tissue transplant coordinator for the province of Bergamo, “do not find compatible donors in their family or in the international registry of voluntary bone marrow donors. Therefore, umbilical cord blood is very precious because it can replace marrow in stem cell transplants and is able to regenerate bone marrow and the entire immune system.”

Stem cells found in the amniotic liquid represent new hopes to treat diseases. For the 13th World Congress on Human Reproduction, which is taking place in Venice, Biocell and Toma, two companies based in the Lombardy region active in the field of prenatal diagnosis and biotechnology, today are presenting the results of research conducted by their scientific staff entitled “Characterization and cryoconservation of mesenchymal stem cells from the amniotic liquid”.

“Every day the amniotic liquid reveals its potential as a source of mesenchymal stem cells, creating increasing interest in the field of regenerative medicine,” said Professor Simoni, the Scientific Director of Biocell Center. “Stem cells in the amniotic liquid are multipotent, very young, and able to differentiate into various tissues.

VIPs and stars like Federica Panicucci, Ambra Angiolini, Federica Fontana, Justine Mattera, and many others are increasingly choosing to store their umbilical cord stem cells storage banks outside of the country for a possible future autologous (self) use. This has been dubbed as a sort of ‘biological insurance’ on the life of their children, allowed by Italian law only for infants that could help their brothers and sister struck by genetic diseases. These famous moms unknowingly risk spreading a false message, that the storage of umbilical cord stem cells for ‘private use’ is based on definite scientific research. “This is not true,” said ex-Health Minister Girolamo Sirchia, yesterday in Milan for the launch of a campaign to donate umbilical cord blood to be used by patients that need a life saving transplant for sicknesses like leukemia and lymphomas.

A Swiss company present in Italy that collects and stores umbilical cord stem cells, about 10,000 Italian mothers by the end of the year will have deposited their children’s umbilical cord stem cells in foreign banks, double compared to 2007. They said, “Just two years ago about 1,500 families decided to deposit their children’s umbilical cord stem cells in banks. In 2007, requests for this service tripled, reaching 5,000 and in 2008. There will be about 10,000 new cryostorages in order to make stem cells available in the future (illegal in Italy). Managing Director Jean Charles Janni said, “Northern families, mainly in Lombardy and Piedmont, have substantially increased in this practice.” He added, “but numerous requests are also coming from Rome, Emilia Romagna, and Campania.”

The following is a statement from Donatella Poretti, a Radical Democratic Party Senator:
We are still waiting for the current government, like all the previous ones, to decide to eliminate an absurd ban on biobanks in Italy and allow the private conservation of one’s own umbilical cord stem cells, and Italian mothers are doing the best they can, meaning they are sending their children’s umbilical cords abroad.
We have learned that this year exports increased to about 10,000 with authorization requests which must be sent to the National Transplant Center.