title: Double unit grafts successfully extend the application of umbilical cord blood transplantation in adults with acute leukemia.
abstract: Cell dose is a major limitation for umbilical cord blood (UCB) transplantation because units containing a minimum of 2.5 x 10(7) total nucleated cells (TNC)/kilogram patient body weight are frequently not available. The transplantation of 2 partially HLA-matched UCB units has been adopted as a simple approach for increasing the TNC.We sought to determine whether the relative safety and efficacy of this approach was comparable with a single UCB transplantation. Included are adults with acute leukemia who received transplants with 1 (n =106) or 2 (n =303) UCB units. All UCB units for single UCB transplantations contained TNC ≥ 2.5 x 10(7)/kg. For double UCB transplantations, the total TNC for units 1 and 2 were > 2.5 x 10(7)/kg but in approximately half of these transplantations, 1 of the 2 units contained < 2.5 x 10(7) TNC/kg. Adjusting for factors associated with outcomes, risks of neutrophil recovery (odds ratio 0.83, P =.59), transplantation-related mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 0.91, P= .63), relapse (HR 0.90, P= .64), and overall mortality (HR 0.93, P= .62) was similar after double UCB and adequate dose single UCB transplantations. These data support double UCB unit transplantation for acute leukemia when an adequately dosed single UCB unit is not available thereby extending access to nearly all patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Efficacy of transplanting adequately dosed 1- or 2-cord blood units.
authors.affiliation: New York Blood Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Andromachi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scaradavou
authors.forename: Claudio G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Brunstein
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eapen
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Le-Rademacher
authors.forename: Juliet N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Barker
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: Corey
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cutler
authors.forename: Colleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delaney
authors.forename: Fangyu
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kan
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Isola
authors.forename: Chatchada
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Karanes
authors.forename: Mary J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Laughlin
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Elizabeth J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Shpall
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D036101:Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015996:Survival Rate; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous