A sample of umbilical cord blood from Shanghai Stem Cell Bank was successfully matched for use in the treatment of a Singaporean woman with leukemia on August 19 and is being prepared for transport, according to Xinhua News Agency on Saturday.

It is the first time that a sample of umbilical cord blood will be sent abroad, and bank officials said they are providing it for free.

"Our primary check found this matching sample and we informed doctors in Singapore," said Song Hongying, the bank's director. "1,000 mothers have donated umbilical cord blood to our bank. Five transplants have been conducted and three patients have recovered very well."

The sample was donated by a mother who delivered a baby on June 26. The bank's 50,000 samples make it the biggest store of stem cells in China.

The 35-year-old Singaporean was diagnosed with leukemia in July and her family contacted stem cell banks in Singapore and Taiwan as well as on the mainland for help in finding a tissue match.

Stem cells from umbilical cord blood can be transplanted into leukemia patients instead of bone marrow -- a technique that is considered more effective and easier to conduct.

As the stem cells in such blood are still in a primary stage of development, they are less likely to be rejected than in a bone marrow transplant.

Samples are collected immediately after delivery of a baby and kept in a liquid nitrogen container, where they can be preserved for 20 years.

(Shanghai Daily August 22, 2005)