title: The number of circulating CD34+ blood cells predicts the colony-forming capacity of leukapheresis products in children.
abstract: In children, only a few guidelines are available for optimizing peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) harvesting. We analyzed by means of flow cytometry and clonogenic assays 60 harvest products obtained from 20 children by standardized leukapheresis after treatment with chemotherapy and CSF. In addition, 27 fresh blood samples obtained prospectively during the mobilization phase were studied. CFU-GM/kg significantly correlated with MNC/kg, CD34+ cells/kg and CD34+33- cells/kg in apheresis products (P < 0.001). In fresh blood samples, CFU-GM/ml significantly correlated with MNC/ml, CD34+ cells/ml and CD34+33- cells/ml (P < 0.001). The numbers of CD34+ cells/ml, CD34+33- cells/ml and MNC/ml in 19 blood samples taken prior to leukapheresis were compared with CFU-GM/kg harvested and thawed after cryopreservation applying multiple regression analysis with stepwise variable selection. The number of circulating CD34+ cells/ml prior to leukapheresis highly correlated with and was predictive for the number of collected CFU-GM/kg (P < 0.001). In addition, a significant correlation (P < 0.05) between the number of progenitor cells/kg reinfused and the time to myeloid and platelet recovery was found in children undergoing high-dose therapy. Our data indicate that a single leukapheresis will be sufficient to obtain a minimum number of 5 x 10(4) CFU-GM/kg if the pre-harvest number of circulating CD34+ cells is > or = 10(5)/ml. Thus, our results will help to optimize PBPC transplantation in children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Leibundgut
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: von Rohr
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brülhart
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hirt
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ischi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jeanneret
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Muff
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ridolfi-Lüthy
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tobler
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000097:blood*; D018952:Antigens, CD34; D001772:Blood Cell Count / Q000187:drug effects; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003115:Colony-Stimulating Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007937:Leukapheresis; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D018952:Antigens, CD34; D003115:Colony-Stimulating Factors