Umbilical cord blood cells from unrelated donor as an alternative source of hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation in children and adults

Umbilical cord blood (CB)is an alternative source of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) for patients requiring allogeneic HSC transplantation but lacking a suitable HLA-matched donor. Using CB has many advantages, including lower HLA-matching requirements, increased donor availability and low rates of graft-versus-host disease. Furthermore, with over 630,000 cryopreserved volunteer CB units currently stored in international CB banks worldwide, CB is rapidly available for those patients requiring urgent transplantation.
Source: Seminars in Hematology - Category: Hematology Authors: Source Type: research