Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant Unit

The Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant Unit at Yashoda hospital consistently aims at providing quality health assistance to improve the lives of patients requiring treatment for blood-related disorders.

The comprehensive patient care we provide is on par with international guidelines. We follow a patient-centric treatment plan using cutting-edge technologies, innovative techniques and methodologies.

What Is Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation?

Umbilical cord blood is one of the richest sources of stem cells and extensively utilized for transplantation. In this form of transplant, stems cells are reserved from umbilical cord blood. The source of umbilical cord blood is the umbilical cord retrieve after the birth of the baby. For future use in cord blood transplant, this cord blood is processed and frozen.

Although cord blood cells have fewer stem cells as compare to other transplants but hold a high tendency of growing more blood cells inside the body than those present in the bone marrow. The advantage of using Umbilical cord blood transplant is that the immune cells in cord blood are still "naive". This means they are not yet active in attacking other cells and are less likely to attack the tissues of the transplant recipient. Therefore, they do not necessarily have to be a close match.

What Are The Indicators For This Transplant?

There are numerous serious health conditions which require Umbilical cord blood transplant as a cure. Such illnesses include:

• Acute lymphocytic/ lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)
• Acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML)
• Chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML)
• Juvenile chronic myelogenous leukaemia (JCML)
• Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL)
• Severe aplastic anaemia
• Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)
• Hurler syndrome
• Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome
• Hodgkin's lymphoma
• Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
• Neuroblastoma
• Thalassemia
• Adrenoleukodystrophy
• Severe combined immune deficiency (SCID)

What Is The Procedure Of The Transplant?

Umbilical cord blood transplantation is a process to replace maligned cells with new cells lining and help in replacing maligned cells or invigorate the system of new cells production.

Step 1: Pre-transplant Process: To ensure their general health and the status of the current medical condition, a patient has to take a series of Pre-transplant tests and procedures. This process of analysis may take several days.

• Beginning Medical Evaluation
• Conference for Treatment Plan
• Central Venous Catheter Evaluation And Insertion
• Stem Cells Harvest from Umbilical cord blood

Step 2: Conditioning Process: After the completion of the medical evaluation, a patient undergoes the conditioning process. This process involves the use of either chemotherapy or radiation therapy or a combination to:

• Destroy any cancer cells in case of malignancy
• Preparing the patient's bone marrow for the growth of new stem cells.
• Suppressing the patient's immune system

Step 3: Umbilical cord blood Transplant: For the cytotoxic treatment, the patient has to undergo the transplantation of the harvested where processed cells are put back into the patient's body, through a central venous catheter. These cells then move through the bloodstream into the bones' places, where they tend to create new bone marrow. The transplant provides a patient's body with a tendency to create new blood cells in a process, which is known as engraftment.

Step 4: Engraftment: The patient is kept under close monitoring for the sign of the growth of new stem cells along with supportive care.

Step 5: The Patient undergoes Post Engraftment monitoring and continuation of immunosuppression

What Are The Precautions One Must Take Before And After The Transplant?

A patient must take care of some of the essential precautions before and after the transplantation process, which includes:

Before the Transplantation:

• Tell your doctor in detail about your medical history or if you are taking any medication.
• To remove the excreted drug in the form of sweat, through the skin, patients must shower twice a day after chemotherapy thoroughly.
• Perform the entire test prescribed by the doctor.
• Abstain yourself from the use of alcohol and tobacco.
• Prepare yourself for the outcomes and side effects of the transplant both mentally and physically.
• Do not eat a heavy meal a day before the transplant.

After the Transplantation:

• Maintain proper hygiene at the place you will rest.
• Try to follow the advice of the doctor to avoid infection, because, after transplant, your immune system is a week.
• Avoid environmental exposure.
• Make sure to wash your hands more often in a day.
• Get a proper vaccination as prescribed by the doctor.
• Try to maintain a healthy weight.
• Take a balanced diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables.

Are There Any Risk Complications Involved?

Usually, a patient receives high-intensity doses of chemotherapy or radiation therapy before a transplant, resulting in complications such as:

• Nausea
• Anaemia
• Bleeding
• Infections
• Skin redness
• Mouth and throat sores
• Stomach and intestinal irritations.
• Liver and lung organ problems

Other complications due to transplant include:

• Pain
• Chest pain
• Chills
• Hives
• High Fever
• Flushing of the face
• Nausea and vomiting
• Graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD): a condition where donated bone marrow may attack the cells. Thus it is suggested to use the more genetically close donor for the transplant.

Studies have proved that there are fewer complications in Umbilical cord blood transplantation as compared to the different type of transplants. However, it is the most beneficial type of transplant, as there is no need to match the cord blood closer to the patient's blood. Therefore, it serves as an option for a patient with uncommon tissue types.