Umbilical cord blood: Current uses for transfusion and regenerative medicine.

The past 20 years of experience with umbilical cord blood transplantation have demonstrated that cord blood is effective in the treatment of a spectrum of diseases, including hematological malignancies, bone marrow failure, hemoglobinopathies, and inborn errors of metabolism. However, only a few number of umbilical cord blood units collected have a cell content adequate for an allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In the meanwhile, there is an increasing interest in exploiting cord blood derivatives in different fields. In this review, we will summarize the most recent updates on clinical applications of umbilical cord blood platelet derivatives for regenerative medicine, and we will revise the literature concerning the use of umbilical cord blood for autologous or allogeneic transfusion purposes. The methodological aspect and the biological characteristics of these products also will be discussed.