Storage and clinical use of hematopoietic stem cells in Guangzhou Cord Blood Bank

Objective To analyze the storage and clinical use of hematopoietic stem cells in Guangzhou Cord Blood Bank (GZCBB). Methods An umbilical cord blood (UCB) stem cells bank was established for donor eligibility screening, UCB collection, processing, testing, cryopreservation, quarantine and distribution according to good manufacturing practice (GMP) and standard operating procedure (SOP).The cryoprevservation, distribution and clinical transplantation outcomes between June 1998 and December 2008 were analyzed based on the data of GZCBB. Results From June 1998 to December 2008, 10 017 UCB units were collected. Of all UCB units, 4619 units (46.1%) were qualified and stored, whereas 5398(53.9%) were discarded for various reasons. Among the 4619 qualified UCB units, the median volume of collection was 92.2 ml (range 60-227.7), the median cell viability was 99.0% (range 90.0%-100%), and the median counts of nucleated cells were 1.1×109(range 0.4× 109-9.3× 109) after separation. The median count of CD34+ cells in 4186 UCB units was 4.1×106(range 0.3×106-131.6×106), and in 4510 UCB units, the median count of CFU-GM was 7.7×105(range 0.0-135.8×105), 7.7×105 (range 0.0-88.9×105) of BFU-E and 0.1×105 (range 0.0-18.6×105) of CFU-GEMM. Up to December 2008, 229 units were used in 187 patients [128(68.4%) children and 59 (31.6%) adults], among whom 86 children and 38 adults achieved implantation.The median time to implantation of neutrophils among them was 16 days (range 9-44 days) and 20 days (range 8-42 days), respectively. Conclusion Data of this study suggested that establishment of a rigorous manipulation routine and a sophisticated management system in a UCB bank may be requisite to effective cyropreservation and provision of qualified UCB units for clinical use. Key words: Blood bank; Umbilical cord blood; Hematopoietic stem cells; Blood preservation; Transplantation