A divulgação científica sobre células-tronco do cordão umbilical e placentário na imprensa e no cotidiano médico-cientíico de serviços privados.

Abstract

The storage of cord blood and placental stem cells has produced an extensive debate both in science and in the press. The private banks which store cord blood and placental stem cells have been introduced to families as the solution to cure existing diseases and pathologies that have not yet been identiied or might be detected in the near future. Safety, risk mitigation, and the hope for the cure of diseases are some of the reasons that lead parents to hire the services of such banks. According to the databank (2003-2010) of Bancos de Sangue do Cordão Umbilical e Placentário para uso autólogo (BSCUPA) (Umbilical Cord and Placental Blood Banks for Autologous Use) production report featured by Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (ANVISA), in a seven-year period, 45,661 units of cord blood for autologous use were stored. Of these, only eight units were efectively used– three for autologous transplant and ive for family members. The BrasilCord network, the collection of public banks, owns 19 thousand units, stored since 2001; of these, about 175 units have already been used in transplants. As a study case, we discuss the concepts of “hope” and “truth” (MOREIRA and PALLADINO, 2005), trying to evaluate the way in which the clinical eicacy of umbilical-cord blood stem cells is presented in publications in the media. The speciic aim of this paper is to analyze the networks that establish the scientiic disclosure of these researches in the context of print and specialized media as well as the link between health care workers and users of private services. The data refer to the period from 2002 to 2014, and were collected from four major national news websites (Folha de S. Paulo, Estado de São Paulo, O Globo e Jornal do Brasil) and ive specialized ones (Ciência Hoje Online, Revista Pesquisa Fapesp, Agência Fapesp, Agência USP de Notícias e Revista ComCiência).