Expanison of cord blood stem cells as a chance for cancer patients

Cord blood stem cells are used in medicine for treatment of over 80 different  diseases such as leukemias, lymphomas and sickle cell anaemia for over 30 years. It has also been proven that in the field of regenerative medicine, the application of cord blood stem cells brings clinical benefit to patients. Due to its limitations, cord blood was used more often in paediatric patients than in adults. The results of new clinical trials show however that the multiplicated cord blood stem cells can be also successfully transplanted into adult patients.

Cord blood stem cells are the hope of 21st century medicine. Over 3,000 studies in various fields are currently underway around the world to discover the potential of stem cells. The results of a study on the use of multiplicated cord blood stem cells in the treatment of patients with blood cancers, published last week, show that umbilical cord blood stem cells grown in the laboratory and transplanted into patients are of significant clinical benefit. Omidubicel is the name of a preparation of hematopoietic cells from a single unit of umbilical cord blood, multiplied in laboratory conditions. A clinical study investigated its effectiveness compared with standard cord blood stem cell transplantation. The study lasted between January 2015 and January 2020, and involved 125 patients aged 13 to 65 years with blood cancer.

Patients who received omidubicel achieved adequate recovery of white blood cells 10 days earlier than patients undergoing standard therapy. Moreover, they had faster platelet recovery [up to 42 days vs 90 days], a lower incidence of bacterial or invasive fungal infections (37% vs 57%) and spent more time outside the hospital in the first 100 days post-transplant than control group patients.

The multiplication of hematopoietic cells was the Holy Grail of haematology – an idea that, despite many attempts over decades, no one managed to implement. The results of this study show that it has reached the point where the number of cells no longer matters. What’s more – the multiplied cells from umbilical cord blood can regenerate the hematopoietic system faster after transplantation. This may mean a wider introduction of this type of methods into clinical practice – says Emilian Snarski, MD, PhD, Medical Director of the FamiCord Group.