Cord Blood Transplantation

Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) can be curative for many cancers and inherited non-malignant diseases, including bone marrow failure syndromes, hemoglobinopathies, and inborn errors of metabolism. While, in most settings, matched sibling transplantation confers best results, more than two-thirds of patients lack a suitable donor. Donor searches from National bone marrow registries are time-consuming and not always successful. Cord blood transplantation now offers a viable option. Cord blood is even more valuable for countries where there is no national registry to provide a pool of potential donors. In the past two decades, over 6000 cord blood transplants have been performed. The data so far indicate that not only is it feasible but in certain situations may offer an advantage over matched unrelated donors. There is also massive interest today about the role of umbilical cord blood cells in regenerative medicine. This article gives an overview of cord blood transplantation and cord blood banking.