Experts have long known that blood stem cells extracted from umbilical cords can help beat back deadly lymphomas and leukemias. Unfortunately, there’s always been one roadblock: the average umbilicus contains only enough stem cells to help the smallest patients, mainly children.That’s why the early results of a new study are so encouraging. Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston say they have successfully treated adult blood cancer patients using stem cells extracted from two separate cords."The remarkable thing about it is that there are no apparent adverse consequences of using two cords, and the new blood cells seem to come in faster, with more rapid engraftment,” explained Dr. Robert Soiffer, chief of hematologic malignancies at Dana-Farber.He said the majority of patients receiving the double-cord stem cell transplant are still alive and doing well one year after treatment.Researchers led by Dr. Karen Ballen are still tabulating their data and the full results of the study will probably not be announced until December, Soiffer said. However, he gave reporters a preliminary sketch of the findings at a recent National Cancer Institute-sponsored seminar held at Dana-Farber.
