This single-center study compared outcomes of 185 consecutive adult patients who underwent myeloablative transplantation using unrelated umbilical cord blood (UCB; n=70) or HLA-identical sibling donor peripheral blood stem cells alone or combined with bone marrow (BM/PBSC; n=115). There were no significant differences in the cumulative incidence of grades III-IV acute GVHD, relapse rate, or 3-year probabilities of disease-free survival between the two patient groups. Cumulative incidence of chronic and extensive chronic GVHD was lower in UCB recipients. The researchers found UCB recipients experienced significantly higher rates of returning to school/work and of being off immunosuppressive therapy compared to BM/PBSC recipients. The authors concluded that long-term survivors who underwent UCB transplantation experience a higher quality of life.
Better QoL for HCT Survivors with Umbilical Cord Blood vs. Matched Sibling Donors
Jun 2014