Cord blood banking and transplantation at the Mexican Institute of Social Security: the first 5 years

BACKGROUND: In January 2005, the Cord Blood Bank (CBB) at the Mexican Institute of Social Security initiated activities. Herein, we describe the experience generated during this period (January 1, 2005‐December 31, 2009). STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Good manufacturing practices and standard operating procedures were used to address donor selection, as well as umbilical cord blood (UCB) collection, processing, and cryopreservation. Based mainly on HLA and nucleated cell content, specific UCB units were thawed, processed, and released for transplantation. RESULTS: A total of 589 UCB units were stored, representing 54% of the total number of units collected. Forty‐eight units (8.14% of the stored units) were released for transplantation of 36 patients. Twenty‐six patients (72% of cases) corresponded to patients with acute leukemia, five (14%) to patients with marrow failure, and the rest (five; 14%) to patients with hemoglobinopathies and other syndromes. The median number of nucleated cells infused per patient was 6.71 × 10⁷/kg and the median number of CD34+ cells was 4.8 × 10⁵/kg. Current engraftment data indicate that engraftment occurred in 56%, and no engraftment in 44%, of cases. Engraftment was more frequent (59%) in patients that received more than 3 × 10⁷ total nucleated cells (TNCs)/kg body weight, than in those receiving fewer than 3 × 10⁷ TNCs/kg (40%). Myeloid engraftment was observed 7 to 54 days posttransplant (median, 23 days), whereas platelet engraftment was detected on Days 12 to 87 posttransplant (median, 38 days). To date, the disease‐free survival rate was 41% and the overall survival was 47%, with survival periods of 126 to 1654 days. CONCLUSION: Although the experience presented herein is still limited and the period of analysis is still short, the results obtained during these 5 years are encouraging.