Why are doctors choosing to use cord blood stem cells instead of bone marrow?
Easier to match – higher survival Bone marrow is difficult to match between the donor and recipient. In order for a transplant to take place, the “perfect match” is usually required and finding an identical set of stem cells can be difficult. Cord blood immune cells, however, are less mature than in bone marrow and have been successfully used even when there is only half-match. This means there is more opportunity for transplants between family members using cord blood stem cells. Some studies have shown that the overall survival rates for related transplants are more than double that of transplants from unrelated donors.
Related Questions
- What is the difference between stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood and those derived from bone marrow and fat tissue?
- What is the difference between cord blood stem cells, embryonic stem cells, and bone marrow stem cells?
- Why are doctors choosing to use cord blood stem cells instead of bone marrow?
