UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD HAILED AS IMMUNE SYSTEM RESTORATIVE.

Byline: Richard Cole Associated Press

Saving a few ounces of blood from a newborn's umbilical cord saves lives - that's the message going out to parents and obstetricians from a growing network of U.S. medical centers.

The blood left in the baby's afterbirth contains the same immunity-producing stem cells found in bone marrow, and is far easier to transplant, researchers say.

A half-dozen umbilical cord blood banks have sprung up across the country or are in the planning stages. They already have given a new chance at life for victims of some forms of leukemia, anemia, Hodgkin's disease and other conditions.

In February, 1-year-old Blayke LaRue of Oxnard, who suffered from a rare immune system disease, underwent a cord blood transplant thanks to an anonymous donation, says his grateful father, Scott LaRue.

``He'll be perfectly normal,'' the father said. ``He'll have the immune system of that baby that donated that cord blood.''

LaRue urges all prospective parents to consider donating.

``Donate your cord,'' he urged. ``It's just going to be thrown away anyway. It doesn't cost any money. And it could save a life.''

Blayke received the transplanted blood from the San Mateo-based International Cord Blood Foundation, one of the biggest of the new banks.

Foundation director Larry Andreini says 10,000 umbilical cords are discarded daily in the United States. The blood from those cords is superior to hard-to-match bone marrow when it comes to transplants, he says.

``It takes four months for a normal bone marrow search,'' he said. ``You can lose a child in four months. But a cord blood sample can be available in 48 hours.''

While bone marrow requires an almost exact match, cord blood transplants can be done without as close a fit, apparently because the stem cells are more primitive, or the brand-new donor has not yet developed antibodies that turn against the recipient.

Withdrawing the less than three ounces of blood left in the umbilical cord is painless and quick. That compares to the time-consuming process of finding a bone marrow match, withdrawing it from a donor and then screening it for diseases.

In St. Louis, the cord blood program organized by Dr. Donna Wall of Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital is called ``First Gift.''

Seventy-five obstetricians and 25 hospitals around St. Louis participate in First Gift, collecting cord blood after delivering babies.

Wall says cord blood overcomes another limitation of bone marrow programs - the preponderance of European-ancestry donors, which makes it difficult for minorities to find matches.