12: Unrelated Cord Blood Transplantation (UCBT) for Transfusion-Dependent Thalassemia – a CIBMTR Audited Retrospective Analysis of 51 Consecutive Patients

Alternative donor transplant of benign primary hematologic disorders

Hematopoietic SCT is currently the only curative therapy for a range of benign inherited and acquired primary hematologic disorders in children, including BM failure syndromes and hemoglobinopathies. The preferred HLA-matched sibling donor is available for only about 25% of such children. However, there has been substantial progress over the last four decades in the use of alternative donors for those without a matched sibling-including HLA-matched unrelated donors, HLA-haploidentical related donors and unrelated-donor umbilical cord blood-so that it is now possible to find a donor for almost every child requiring an allograft. Below, we summarize the relative merits and limitations of the different alternative donors for benign hematologic conditions, first generally, and then in relation to specific disorders, and suggest recommendations for selecting such an alternative donor.

Umbilical cord blood transplantation for thalassemia major

Hematopoietic cell transplantation is curative therapy for thalassemia major. Although the clinical application of hematopoietic cell transplantation has relied on marrow collected from related and unrelated donors as the primary source of donor hematopoietic cells, umbilical cord blood (UCB) is an alternative source of hematopoietic cells and represents a suitable allogeneic donor pool in the event that a marrow donor is not available. Progress in developing UCB transplantation for thalassemia is reviewed and the most likely areas of future clinical investigation are discussed.

Transplant outcomes in bone marrow failure syndromes and hemoglobinopathies

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the only potential cure for most bone marrow (BM) failure syndromes and hemoglobinopathies. Over the past decade, umbilical cord blood (UCB) has been used more frequently as a stem cell source in patients who lack a suitable BM donor. Although graft failure remains a significant problem, UCB transplantation (UCBT) using the optimal conditioning regimen can be a salvage treatment for patients without a suitable BM donor and warrants evaluation in further prospective studies.