UMBILICAL-CORD BLOOD AS A GOOD ALTERNATIVE TO BONE-MARROW FOR ALLOGENEIC CELL TRANSPLANTATION IN CHILDREN WITH HEMOBLASTOSIS

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is an alternative source of hematopoietic p rogenitors and has potential advantages over bone marrow. We present o ur experience with UCB transplants performed between July 1994 and Jun e 1997 in seven children with hemoblastosis. Two patients underwent tr ansplantation from an HLA-identical sibling donor and five from an unr elated donor, Engraftment was obtained in all but one patient, acute G VHD was absent in patients with related donors and present in all pati ents with unrelated donors, No patient showed chronic GVHD. Two patien ts died from transplant-related complications and a further two relaps ed. Four patients were alive with a follow-up of 14, 15, 21 and 39 mon ths post-transplant, respectively. Overall survival was 57% (s.e. 0.19 ), We conclude that cord blood is a good alternative source of hematop oietic stem cells for children with malignant hematologic diseases.