Cord blood banking for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

The number of umbilical cord blood cells transplantation is increasing worldwide. The results are comparable to allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in a large variety of hematological diseases curable by bone marrow transplantation. The incidence of GVH has been so far limited. The advantages of using cord blood are related to the high number of hematopoietic progenitors in circulation at birth and to the relative immune reactivity of the new-born. A European cord blood bank project is described in order to obtain related or unrelated, matched or partially mismatched hematopoietic stem cell transplant for treating patients without a bone marrow donor.