Current Status and Future of Autologous Cord Blood Stem Cell Therapy for Cerebral Palsy

Human brain tissue has a limited ability to regenerate. Cerebral palsy (CP) is a disorder that results from brain injury, most notably hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), during the neonatal period. Once the brain-damaging process has progressed to exhibit CP pathology, there is no effective treatment. Therefore, halting this progressive process is important for preventing or minimizing the severity of CP. Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is an established method widely practiced for this purpose, and TH alone can decrease the mortality rate without increasing the risk of severe disability among survivors [1]. One recent registry study, however, suggests that nearly half of TH can result in some unwanted aftereffects [2]. Stem cell therapy is a newer approach with the potential to repair damaged cells in CP lesions. In 2014, researchers in the United States reported the effectiveness of a combination of TH and autologous cord blood therapy in improving the neurodevelopmental outcome of HIE [3]. By the end of 2014, the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development funded a clinical trial of autologous cord blood therapy for HIE.