The present and future of cord blood transplantation

The number of unrelated cord blood transplantations is increasing worldwide as the new strategy of stem cell transplantation takes advantage of such factors as the lower incidence of graft-versus-host disease, even in transplants from HLA disparate donors, and the immediate availability for urgent transplant requests. The major problems to be overcome to improve the clinical outcomes of these transplants are the relatively high incidence of graft failure and delayed hematological and immunological reconstitution.