[New developments in cord blood transplantation: immunological characteristics and strategies for relapse prevention]

Cord blood transplantation (CBT) has become an important graft source for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In Japan, CBT is widely performed, and transplant outcomes have improved with advances in unit selection, conditioning regimens, and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis. In addition, the unique immunological characteristics of cord blood may induce a strong graft-versus-leukemia effect, suggesting a potential advantage of CBT for patients with high-risk hematologic malignancies. Emerging strategies such as post-transplant maintenance therapy using targeted agents are also being investigated to reduce relapse after transplantation. Furthermore, the relatively low incidence of chronic GVHD following CBT may contribute to improved long-term outcomes and quality of life. This review summarizes the current status of CBT with a focus on findings from Japan and discusses recent advances and future perspectives.