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Cost of transplant
Stem cell transplants can be very expensive. The total cost
for the procedure can vary a lot, but it can easily reach $100,000 or
more. A transplant is still considered experimental for many types of
cancer, especially solid tumors, so insurers may not cover the costs of
the procedure. No matter what condition you have, it is important to
find out what your insurer will cover before deciding on a transplant.
You need to have an idea of what you might have to pay.
Saving umbilical cord blood for later use
Volunteer or public cord blood banks have been set up to make
more stem cells available and to improve the chances for good HLA
matches for those in need. Parents can donate their newborn's cord
blood to these banks at no cost.
Another option is that parents can store their newborn's cord
blood in private cord blood banks for possible future use by the child
or a close relative. Several private companies offer this service as a
form of "biological insurance," should the child need a stem cell
transplant at some point later in life. The collection fee can be
$1,500 to $2,000 and the fee to store the cord blood is around $150 per
year. You will want to check on costs because they will likely
increase, and they may vary from one part of the country to another.
Parents may want to think about banking their child's cord
blood, especially in families that have a history of, or close
relatives with, diseases that may benefit from stem cell transplant.
But there are some important points to think about:
- Most medical specialists feel that the chance that the
average child or close relative will be helped by storing his or her
own cord blood is very low. Estimates have ranged from 1 out of 1,000
to 1 out of 200,000. This means that most privately-collected cord
blood is likely to be wasted.
- Some diseases that are treatable by transplant require
allogeneic stem cells (from another donor). Infusing autologous cord
blood stem cells that contain the same defect would not cure the
disease.
- The "shelf life" of cord blood is not known. Because cord
blood storage is a recent development, scientists do not know whether
blood collected at the time of birth will be useful if the individual
develops a disease treatable by stem cell transplant 50 years later.
Some scientists suspect that advances in immunology and genetics may
make use of stored cord blood unnecessary by that time.
Remember that if you do want to donate or bank your child's
cord blood, it is best if the arrangements are made before the baby is
born.
More information on private family cord blood banking can be
found at the Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Foundation. You can visit
their Web site at http://parentsguidecordblood.org.
Last Medical Review: 05/27/2009
Last Revised: 05/27/2009
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