CHSCB - Catholic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank

The mission of Catholic Medical Center is to take care of people who suffer from various diseases by reproducing Jesus Christ in our hearts as healers. For this, we will train medical professionals with a noble sense of duty, study and research the field of medical science and make continuous efforts to provide volunteer medical service with the deepest affection.

* We will lessen the physical/ mental pain of patients and make patients and their families believe in God as the ultimate healer through continuous prayers and volunteer service.

* We will train highly capable medical professionals of new knowledge and techniques to take care of patients with unstinting love bearing a likeness to Jesus Christ.

* We will lay special emphasis on the best treatment, prevention and rehabilitation for disease fighting but will not do any research which violates the mystery and dignity of human lives.

* While they recover their health, we will guide patients鈥� steps in the path of God鈥檚 great love and help them to become children of God. Moreover, we will help those who approach their final hour cherish a hope about God鈥檚 world and keep human dignity.

* We will turn our minds to needy and helpless patients and try hard to make them be benefited by medical treatment.

Significance of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Donation
Leukemia, widely known as a fatal disease, can be completely cured if the patient receives a hematopoietic stem cell transplant(bone marrow, Cord Blood) from a healthy person after eradicating his own hematopoietic stem cells(bone marrow).

In this case, success of the transplantation depends on the HLA as donor geneotypes should fully coincide with that of the recipient. The overall probability of coincidence is four out of one in case of siblings and one out of thousands or millions in case of non-blood relative donors.

When a patient is suffering from leukemia, it is impossible to test thousands or millions of people and find a donor in person if he/she does not have a sibling whose HLA matches with himself/herself.

Therefore, we should find future healthy donors who are willing to donate their hematopoietic stem cells(bone marrow, Cord Blood), conduct an HLA testing, save the results at the Korean Network for Organ Sharing(KONOS) and match donors鈥� information with patients to coordinate a transplantation for those who are in need of a hematopoietic stem cell transplant(bone marrow, Cord Blood).

Cord Blood exists in the umbilical cord when a baby is born.

During pregnancy, oxygen and essential nutrients are supplied to the baby鈥檚 blood through the mother鈥檚. Such lifeline supplying nutrients between the mother and baby is called the umbilical cord and placenta. Blood in the umbilical cord and placenta after birth is called the Cord Blood and it contains a great deal of hematopoietic stem cells.

Cord Blood is extracted from 90-110ml of the blood from the umbilical cord and placenta after birth and the extraction does not affect the delivery in any way and is safe for both the baby and mother.

You can save other鈥檚 lives by donating Cord Blood. Moreover, if your child or family need a hematopoietic stem cell transplant, you can use your child鈥檚 Cord Blood if it is stored at the bank. As there is a great probability that HLA among siblings coincide, Cord Blood can be used for transplants of siblings.

For example, say there are 10,000 bottles of Cord Blood saved at the bank. If 100 patients are to go through a hematopoietic stem cell transplant, the probability for another person to use the stored Cord Blood is 1% which means that there is a fairy possibility for you to use it.

However, if the stored Cord Blood had been already used by someone else or had not been stored as it had been judged to be inadequate, you cannot use it for your children or family.