Cord blood transplantation is a transplant technique that uses stem cells obtained from umbilical cord blood (UCB). The first successful cord blood transplant was performed in 1988, and since that time, cord blood transplantation has been performed with increasing frequency. Approximately 75 percent of cord blood transplants involve unrelated donors.

Umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) has several potential advantages. Perhaps the main advantage is decreased incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), which is attributable to decreased functionality of fetal lymphocytes. This decreased functionality also enables transplants to be undertaken with a lesser degree of HLA matching. The use of cord blood also expands the size of the potential donor pool and enhances the speed of finding suitable matches. The potential for viral contamination such as cytomegalovirus is also sharply reduced, and the limitations of cross-racial matching can be largely overcome with UCBT.

Potential disadvantages of UCBT include possible transmission of genetic diseases that are clinically unapparent at birth. Maternal contamination of umbilical cord blood, while unlikely, is also a potential risk that could cause severe and even fatal graft-versus-host disease.

The availability of umbilical cord blood transplantation has raised many ethical questions that revolve around issues such as ownership, privacy, and allocation of limited resources. Patients who wish to learn more about the status and availability of umbilical cord blood transplantation are encouraged to discuss this possibility with their hematologists.