Prospective Evaluation of Unrelated Donor Cord Blood and Haploidentical Donor Access Reveals Graft Availability Varies by Patient Ancestry: Practical Implications for Donor Selection.

The availability of cord blood (CB) and haploidentical (haplo) donors in all patient populations is not established. We have investigated the addition of haplo-CD34 cells to CB grafts (haplo-CBT) to speed myeloid engraftment. Thus, we have prospectively assessed CB and haplo donor availability in adult patients without 8/8 HLA-allele matched unrelated donors (URDs).

Availability of cord blood extends allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant access to racial and ethnic minorities.

Allogeneic transplant access can be severely limited for patients of racial and ethnic minorities without suitable sibling donors. Whether cord blood (CB) transplantation can extend transplant access because of the reduced stringency of required HLA-match is not proven. We prospectively evaluated availability of unrelated donors (URD) and CB according to patient ancestry in 553 patients without suitable sibling donors.