Dr. John Moore, Staff Specialist, Haematology
Department,
Cord
blood has increasingly been used as an alternative source of stem cells for
stem cell transplantation throughout the 1990’s. The major advantages of cord
blood are it’s immediate availability and a lower need
for HLA compatibility between the donor/recipient pair. These advantages are
offset by the low number of stem cells in the graft which can result in
prolonged neutropenia and subsequent infections in
the recipients. Recently it has been proposed that using two cord blood units
could provide patients with more stem cells and hence overcome this problem of
slow engraftment. It is hypothesized that two units only matching in 4/6 HLA
antigens with the recipient can be used due to the relative immature immunity
of the cord cells. This talk will provide an overview of the current status of
double cord transplantation in