Umbilical Cord Blood Program

A relatively new alternative source of unrelated hematopoietic (bone marrow) stem cells is umbilical cord blood (UCB). There are several dozen UCB registries worldwide which process and store cord blood collections from healthy babies. The cord blood, which is normally thrown away after a baby is born, contains a relatively large number of bone marrow stem cells. One potential advantage of using UCB is that it does not need to be a perfect tissue match with the recipient. Disadvantages include the limited number of cells in a collection and relative delay in recovery of marrow function post-transplant.

National study of UCB stem cells for transplantation (COBLT)

Recently, a national study was initiated to evaluate the role of umbilical cord blood stem cells for transplantation. The UCSF Pediatric BMT Program is one of the institutions participating in this very important study. It is anticipated that at the completion of the study (by 2005), we will be able to determine the value of this source of stem cells.

Children who are eligible to participate must have a disease for which bone marrow transplantation is indicated involving either a marrow stem cell defect, a malignancy or an inborn error of metabolism. In addition, they must be ineligible for autologous transplantation and there can be no closely matched related donor available. Finally, a search must be done for a histocompatible unrelated bone marrow donor in which no donor is identified. If no related or unrelated marrow donor is available then an umbilical cord blood, if available, will be used.