Concise review: umbilical cord blood transplantation: past, present, and future.

ABSTRACT: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is an important treatment option for fit patients with poor-risk hematological malignancies; nevertheless, the lack of available fully matched donors limits the extent of its use. Umbilical cord blood has emerged as an effective alternate source of hematopoietic stem cell support. Transplantation with cord blood allows for faster availability of frozen sample and avoids invasive procedures for donors. In addition, this procedure has demonstrated reduced relapse rates and similar overall survival when compared with unrelated allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The limited dose of CD34-positive stem cells available with single-unit cord transplantation has been addressed by the development of double-unit cord transplantation.

SUBMITTER: Munoz J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4250219 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature