Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in children often requires a stem cell transplant. Doctors often hope to find a matched sibling for the pediatric patient in need of a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). However, when a matched sibling cannot be identified doctors turn to other sources of stem cells from bone marrow and/or cord blood. At this point, doctors will search for matches from possible donors and then begin a delicate decision making process to choose the best stem cell source for their patient. But, what is the "best source" of stem cells? What factors must the transplant team consider?

Relapse and Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD) are both potential risks for pediatric patients post transplant. Both can be debilitating or life-threatening to the child.  Transplant teams work daily to balance these risks with the risk of the cancer itself. Multi-center studies provide these medical teams with much needed observations from real world use of various stem cell sources in transplant. Analysis of these observations is critical to the fight against cancer and efforts to find a cure. 

For this reason, we are very pleased to welcome Dr. Heather Stefanski from NMDP BeTheMatch who will discuss in detail a recent multi-center study comparing stem cell sources. Presenting data from "The influence of stem cell source on transplant outcomes for pediatric patients with acute myeloid leukemia" (published by Blood Advances), Dr. Stefanski will review outcomes of more than 300 patients receiving stem cell transplants from cord blood, matched unrelated donors, sibling donors and more. She will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each and show the overall conclusions of this multi-center study.

Join us on February 28th for this fascinating, in-depth discussion led by a recognized expert in the field of stem cell transplants, Dr. Heather Stefanski. Free and open to all, this webinar is highly recommended for healthcare professionals, transplant teams and those working in cancer research. Likewise, we encourage OBGYNs, nurses, midwives and others who work with expectant parents to watch this webinar so that they can learn how cord blood stem cells are used on a daily basis in the treatment leukemia, particularly in children. 

SHARE THE SCIENCE
with
Dr. Heather Stefanski
Senior Vice President of Medical Services
for Be The Match / National Marrow Donor Program
 
"The Influence of Umbilical Cord Blood on
Treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukemia" 
Free webinar.  Open to the public.
​
Tuesday, February 28th 2pm US Eastern Time / 11am US Pacific Time

View the recording now in the Share the Science Archive.
​

Key to NMDP Be The Match's success is education! In addition to the webinar session with Dr. Stefanski, the cord blood team at NMDP Be The Match has shared numerous resources expanding on the topic of cord blood and how it is matched to patients in need: 

• Ebook - Cord Blood Transplant: https://network.bethematchclinical.org/transplant-centers/cord-blood-transplant/ 
• Cord Blood Practice Guidelines: https://network.bethematchclinical.org/transplant-centers/cord-blood-practice-guidelines/ 
• Cord Blood Consultation:  https://network.bethematchclinical.org/transplant-centers/search-and-testing/search-services/cord-blood-consultation/ 
• HCT Graft Source Selection - Cord Blood:  https://network.bethematchclinical.org/education/education-catalog/hct-graft-source-selection--cord-blood/ 
• Webinar on Graft Source Selection:  https://www2.network.bethematchclinical.org/l/566592/2021-04-06/hz32mn?_ga=2.161300285.1078025001.1686580602-284608465

​Save the Cord Foundation and WellSky are proud to welcome Dr. Atul Malhotra and Dr. Lindsay Zhou as our featured speakers for the next edition of Share the Science on Wednesday, August 17th, 2022 at 5pm US Eastern Time / 4pm US Central Time. Join us to hear Dr. Malhotra and Dr. Zhou discuss their research on the potential use of cord blood in cell therapy to treat brain injury in preterm infants.

RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE (watch via the Share the Science archive)

​Share the Science is a free webinar series focused on the cord blood industry and the latest research in this field.  As always, we invite both health professionals and the general public to join us for this unique online educational series. Learn more about this exciting educational series here.

Brain injury continues to be a severe complication as a result of of preterm birth.  In response, prevention and treatment of brain injury in neonates remains a key area of interest for researchers exploring the potential of umbilical cord blood and cord blood-derived cell therapies. In particular, umbilical cord blood-derived cells are being continuously evaluated for their neuroprotective and neuroreparative properties in preclinical and clinical studies. Numerous clinical trials have suggested that cord blood has the potential to reduce apoptosis, inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress in the brain.

For this edition of Share the Science, we are pleased to welcome both Dr. Atul Malhotra and Dr. Lindsay Zhou from Monash University who will discuss the potential of cord blood in the treatment of brain injury. In particular, they will discuss their own research in this area and a study to test the feasibility of collection and isolation of sufficient UCBCs from cord blood, and the safety of intravenous administration of autologous UCBCs in extremely preterm infants suffering from brain injury during the neonatal period. 

Join us for this fascinating discussion with Dr. Atul Malhotra and Dr. Lindsay Zhou. 
​

For over 30 years, cord blood stem cell transplants have been saving lives and bringing new hope to patients fighting over 80 different life-threatening diseases including leukemia, lymphoma and thalassemia. However, despite this impressive track record, transplant doctors are not complacent, but constantly looking for ways to improve on the transplant process whether using cord blood, bone marrow or both.

​In this spirit, Dr. Mitchell Horwitz and his team at Duke University Medical Center have led the way in new and pioneering cord blood research. Recently, the team published their encouraging results from a phase 3 randomized study on the efficacy of omidubicel vs. standards myeloablative umbilical cord blood transplantation. Omidubicel is an ex vivo expanded hematopoietic progenitor cell and non-expanded myeloid and lymphoid cell product that is derived from a single umbilical cord blood unit.

As part of Dr. Horwitz' study, between January 2017 and January 2020, 125 patients ages 13 to 65 years with hematologic malignancies were randomly assigned to this study. Patients received myeloablative conditioning and prophylaxis with a calcineurin inhibitor and mycophenolate mofetil for graft-versus-host disease. 

Join us to learn about the details of this phase 3 study and explore ways that doctors can improve cord blood transplants through innovation.

SHARE THE SCIENCE
with

Mitchell Horwitz, MD
Adult Blood and Marrow Transplant Program and Professor of Medicine at the Duke University Medical Center
 
"Improved Clinical Outcomes with Omidubicel vs. Standard Myeloablative Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation"

Free webinar.  Open to the public.
​
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2022  1pm ET

RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE in the Share the Science Archive