Intraosseous Infusion of Unrelated Cord Blood Grafts

Study Summary

In this trial the investigators seek to determine if injecting cord blood cells directly into the bone marrow (intraosseous injection), rather than infusing them intravenously, can improve engraftment. The rational for doing this is that most hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) infused intravenously never reach the bone marrow, getting trapped by other organs, such as the lungs, instead. The potential advantage of intraosseous infusion is suggested by studies in rodents that have demonstrated that in HSC transplants where the cell dose is limiting intraosseous injection is a more effective route of administration. The safety of intraosseous injections, in general, is underscored by the vast experience using intraosseous injections for resuscitation of critically ill children. The safety of injecting HSCs intraosseously has been demonstrated in a clinical trial of transplanting bone marrow cells. To safeguard against problems that might result, if intraosseous infusion fails to improve engraftment in this trial, the investigators will integrate a recently introduced strategy proven to improve engraftment-the transplantation of two cord blood units. Transplanting two unrelated cord blood units by intravenous infusion has been shown to improve engraftment (although there is still room for improvement). In this trial one unit will be injected intraosseously and the other unit will be infused intravenously. This study is being conducted as a forerunner to a larger, multi-center trial. The investigators intend to enroll five patients over 1-2 years.

Interventions

• PROCEDURE cord blood infusion