Umbilical cord blood: a guide for primary care physicians.
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2011-09
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Umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants are used to treat a variety of oncologic, genetic, hematologic, and immunodeficiency disorders. Physicians have an important role in educating, counseling, and offering umbilical cord blood donation and storage options to patients. Parents may donate their infant's cord blood to a public bank, pay to store it in a private bank, or have it discarded. The federal government and many state governments have passed laws and issued regulations regarding umbilical cord blood, and some states require physicians to discuss cord blood options with pregnant women. Five prominent medical organizations have published recommendations about cord blood donation and storage. Current guidelines recommend donation of umbilical cord blood to public banks when possible, or storage through the Related Donor Cord Blood Program when a sibling has a disease that may require a stem cell transplant. Experts do not currently recommend private banking for unidentified possible future use. Step-by-step guidance and electronic resources are available to physicians whose patients are considering saving or donating their infant's umbilical cord blood.
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Scholars@Duke
Paul Langlie Martin
For most of my career in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology I have focused on the use of stem cell transplant for the treatment of pediatric leukemias (ALL, AML, CML and JMML) and other non-malignant blood disorders, such as sickle cell disease, hemaphagocytic disorders, Wiskott-Aldrich, aplastic anemia, Diamond-Blackfan Anemia, as well as inherited metabolic diseases. In addition to focusing on determining the best use of stem cell transplants for these disorders, I have also been involved in clinical research investigating the prevention and treatment of transplant related morbidity, particularly veno-occlusive disease of the liver, infections and diffuse alveolar hemorrhage. As study chair for the Children's Oncology Group protocol 9904, I was involved in the development, implementation and analysis of a large, international frontline study of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Results from this study show that a significant number of children with certain favorable cytogenetic abnormalities in their leukemic cells and who have a rapid response to their initial chemotherapy can expect to have a >95% chance of cure when treated with relatively low intensity chemotherapy.
I have concentrated on providing high quality care for high risk leukemia patients who require high intensity therapies, such as stem cell transplant and immunotherapy. As a member of the Pediatric Transplant and Cellular Therapy Division I provide clinical care for these patients. As a member of various cooperative groups and local PI for several drug trials, I have worked to provide better care and more specific therapies for the toxicities associated with stem cell transplant.
I have also collaborated with the Pediatric Immunology Division to provide a life-saving therapy for a small group of patients with thymic dysfunction, which causes severe immunodeficiency. Our clinical team now provides support during these patients hospital admissions for donor thymus tissue implantation. We once again achieved a new record for the number of implanted patients during the 2022-2023 academic year.
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