Text Box: CORD BLOOD AND MARROW TRANSPLANT FOR THALASSAEMIC PATIENTS: A SINGLE CENTRE EXPERIENCE 1Ha SY, 1Chan GCF, 2Lee ACW, 1Liang RHS, 1Lau YL 1Queen Mary Hospital, The University of Hong Kong, 2Tuen Mun Hospital, Hong Kong, China Objective: We review the treatment outcome in patients with transfusion dependent thalassaemia who underwent transplant using either sibling bone marrow (BM) or cord blood (CB) from 1991 onwards. Methods: Seventeen patients underwent BM and 6 CB transplant. Patients in BM group were older than CB group. Conditioning with Busulphan and cyclophosphamide was used in initial 7 patients. Due to occurrence of graft rejection, anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) was added in subsequent transplants. Fludarabine-containing regimen was used in 4 recent Class III patients. Methotrexate and cyclosporin were used for GvHD prophylaxis. Results: Nucleated cell and CFU-GM doses were higher in BM group (median: 3.77x108/Kg; 4.8x104colonies/Kg) than CB group (median: 0.5x108/Kg; 1.8 x104colonies/Kg). Three patients in BM group experienced non-engraftment or graft rejection with the initial conditioning regimen. No similar problem was encountered with ATG-containing regimen except 1 patient. Neutrophil engraftment did not differ significantly in BM and CB groups (median: D17 vs. D20). Platelet engraftment (Plt>50x109/L) occurred slightly earlier in BM group than CB group (median:D36 vs. D47). GvHD was more severe in BM group, and contributed to 2 death cases. In the BM group, 12/17 (71%) patients became disease free (follow up: 0.3 ¨C 9 yr, median: 5.5 yr.). In CB group, all 6 patients (100%) became transfusion independent (follow up: 0.3-6.3yr, median: 3yr.). When ATG-containing regimens, 14/16 (87.5%) patients have become transfusion independent. Conclusion: CB transplant provides cure for thalassaemic patients and causes fewer complications than BM transplant. ATG-containing regimens give more superior results than the one without ATG. Fludarabine-containing regimen is a useful alternative for class III patients. 2391