Current status of cord blood banking during first two years of 'National Government-Assigned Public Cord Blood Banks Operation' in Korea

Cord blood (CB) has become a viable stem cell source for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), and public cord blood banks (CBBs) have been established to manage donated cord blood units (CBUs) for unrelated HSCT. As the potential uses for CB continue to grow, there is a global tendency to encourage public CBBs. The aim of this study was to investigate the current status of public CBBs that were designated and supported by the Korean national government. We analyzed 6,168 CBUs preserved at the 3 Government-Assigned Public CBBs during their first two years of operation (2012-2013) and the standard operating procedures for CB processing at each CBB. CBU inventories at ALLCORD, Catholic HSC Bank and Fatima Public CBB were 4,022, 1,207 and 939 units, respectively. Total nucleated cell (TNC) counts per unit were 11.0 × 10(8) at ALLCORD, 10.7 × 10(8) at Fatima and 9.8 × 10(8) at Catholic, and all far exceeded the requirement for cryopreservation under the law (7.0 × 10(8)). CD34(+) cell counts and % were as follows: 3.5 × 10(6) (0.31 %) in ALLCORD, 2.2 × 10(6) (0.20 %) in Fatima and 2.2 × 10(6) (0.22 %) in Catholic. All the three banks observed the 'CB Act' in dealing with CBUs, including collection, processing, laboratory tests and cryopreservation. Government supported and strictly law-abiding public CBBs in Korea have considerable CBU inventories of high quality in terms of efficacy and safety. Legislation and accompanying government-support will be helpful for establishing CB standardization, vitalizing CBT and improving clinical outcomes.