title: Umbilical-cord blood transplantation for the treatment of cancer.
abstract: Haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation is used to treat many haematological cancers, but is limited by the lack of suitable bone-marrow donors, the risk of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and slow immune reconstitution. Umbilical-cord blood is an alternative source of haematopoietic stem cells that has recently been tested in both child and adult cancer patients. These studies have identified several advantages to umbilical-cord cell transplantation, including a lower incidence of GVHD. Umbilical-cord blood is therefore a promising alternative to bone-marrow-derived stem cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Blood and Marrow Transplant Program of the University of Minnesota School of Medicine, 420 Delaware Street, S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA. barker014@tc.umn.edu
authors.forename: Juliet N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Barker
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Wagner
mesh_terms: D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D036101:Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*