A single-center study of 211 patients with high-risk acute leukemia, MDS, and CML has shown that double cord blood transplantation has lower relapse risk and comparable survival compared to unrelated donor transplantation. This retrospective study from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center analyzed outcomes of 153 unrelated donor transplant and 58 double cord blood transplants in patients age 16-60 years. Three-year transplant-related mortality was similar in the double cord cohort compared to the unrelated donor cohort: 22% vs. 25%, respectively (p=0.860). Relapse rate at three years was significantly lower in the cord blood cohort than in the unrelated donor cohort: 7% vs. 22%, respectively (p=0.009). There was a trend for higher three-year disease-free survival in the double cord blood cohort compared to the unrelated donor cohort: 70% vs. 53% (p=0.08). The researchers concluded that their results support double cord blood transplantation as an immediate alternative to unrelated donor transplantation in patients with acute leukemia and other high-risk myeloid malignancies.
Ponce DM, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant (Full abstract only available to BBMT subscribers)