Future of cord blood for oncology uses.

The utilization of umbilical cord blood (UCB) as a source of stem cells for transplantation has grown substantially in the last decade. Already an established practice for the treatment of children with hematological malignancies, its application for the treatment of adults is also expanding. The development of the double UCB and reduced-intensity transplantation platforms have contributed to this expansion. Recent registry-based analysis and ongoing single institution and multicenter clinical trials are investigating ways to make UCB transplantation more widely available. We review here the background data on the utilization of UCB for the treatment of hematological malignancies, and discuss the current challenges and future directions in the field of UCB transplantation.