The year 2020 will be forever remembered for the COVID‐19 pandemic that swept around the globe and impacted every aspect of our personal and professional lives. It will also be a year where cord blood and tissue have shone within the scientific and clinical arena, providing a vital stem cell donor source when the availability of adult bone marrow and mobilized blood as a donor source was compromised, providing cells of potential therapeutic benefit for the treatment of patients with severe COVID‐19.
The abstracts submitted to this year's virtual Cord Blood Connect international congress stretch beyond the pandemic. Technologically innovative investigations are presented, ranging from preclinical studies to clinical trials, regenerative therapies using cord blood and perinatal tissues, and cord blood transplantation.
The Abstract Review Committee chose four abstracts for the Best Abstract Awards. Two of them are exciting preclinical studies demonstrating a functional role for cells derived from both cord tissue and cord blood for the treatment of neurological conditions. A study presented by Hyunjung Min describes how human umbilical cord tissue‐derived mesenchymal stromal cells interact with macrophages to suppress T cells and thereby enhance remyelination of the spinal cord in a murine preclinical model of demyelinating disease.
Arjun Saha reports on the human umbilical cord blood‐derived macrophage‐like cell therapy product, DUOC‐01, to treat demyelinating conditions of the central nervous system. DUOC‐01 was formulated in hydrocortisone, in order to mimic the likely clinical practice, and tested in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal model used to study multiple sclerosis (MS). Results suggest that the DUOC‐01 cellular therapy product may be of benefit in treating MS and other neurological conditions with demyelination.
The often‐low stem cell content in cord blood transplants can result in slower immune reconstitution and higher risk of graft failure, severe infections, and treatment‐related mortality (TRM). The third abstract selected for a Best Abstract Award reports on T‐cell reconstitution and immune function in patients transplanted with UM171‐expanded cord blood grafts. Maude Dumont‐Lagacé presents exciting clinical trial data showing that UM171 patients benefit from rapid T cell reconstitution, likely contributing to the absence of moderate/severe chronic graft‐vs‐host disease, infection‐related mortality, and late TRM in the UM171 cohort.
Administration of cord blood products carries a risk of infusion reaction. The fourth abstract selected for a Best Abstract Award is a study by Rachel Hollowell and colleagues describing the incidence and severity of infusion reactions in children with neurological conditions receiving autologous or sibling cord blood infusions on an expanded access protocol. Nearly 10% of all children experienced an infusion reaction of varying degrees. All reactions were resolved with treatment, but this study highlights the importance of cord blood infusions being attended by trained professionals in the treatment of acute infusion reactions.
Recipients of the Best Abstract Awards will give oral presentations of their work at 12:45 p.m. EST (USA) on Thursday, September 17. The virtual nature of the conference allows for novel and interactive “e‐posters” in which all accepted abstracts will be presented as short PowerPoint presentations, viewable at any time once the congress commences, and available to registrants for another 12 months after the congress. Interaction with and questioning of the abstract authors will be conducted via e‐mail using the virtual platform.
We look forward to “seeing” you online at the virtual 2020 Cord Blood Connect international congress.
Ngaire Elwood, PhD BMDI Cord Blood Bank Chair, Scientific Program Committee
Heather Brown, MS CBR / Generate Life Sciences Chair, Technology and Education Program Committee