The Milan Cord Blood Bank and the Italian Cord Blood Network

We describe the activities of the Milan Cord Blood (CB) Bank and of the Italian Cord Blood Network. By October 31, 1995, 763 units were banked in Milan. Of these, 8 units were used to perform 4 related and 4 unrelated transplants in 5 children and 3 adult patients. Early cord clamping after delivery was found to be crucial to increase the volume of CB collected. This procedure does not seem to be detrimental to the newborn. Of various red cell sedimenting agents used to reduce the unit volume and concentrate progenitor cells, 3% gelatin seems to be associated with the best yields. After a preliminary experience of 2 years, the Italian Cord Blood Network (Gruppo Italiano Amplificazione Cellule Emopoietiche, GRACE) was founded in 1995. The initial activities of GRACE are aimed at the development at the national level of CB banking standard operative procedures in agreement with the draft issued by The North American Task Force for The Development of Standards for Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. Moreover, a wet workshop has been organized to standardize colony-forming unit (CFU) evaluation. The main goal in Milan is the collection of 5000 CB units. Other issues of interest include CB volume reduction, hematopoietic progenitor purification, ex vivo expansion prior to transplantation, and experimental protocols for gene transfer, such as those related to the multidrug resistance (MDR) gene.