title: Inhibition of CFU-C growth by VP-16 containing plasma samples obtained from patients after conditioning therapy for bone marrow transplantation.
abstract: The introduction of VP-16 into high-dose therapy regimens used for conditioning before BMT or PBSCT has resulted in higher remission rates and prolonged disease-free survival, even in high risk patients. VP-16 levels have been measured in plasma at the time of transplantation. The question is, is there a biological activity that corresponds with the risk of delayed engraftment or graft failure? We investigated the inhibitory effects of plasma samples obtained from patients under high-dose VP-16 therapy on the growth of human bone marrow progenitor cells. Bone marrow cells from healthy donors were exposed to the plasma samples and seeded into methylcellulose-culture (CFU-C-assay). We found a dose dependent CFU-C inhibition related to VP-16 plasma levels at the time of transplantation (k = 0.769, P < 0.01). There were signs of a correlation between CFU-C growth inhibition at the time of BMT and haematological recovery (k = 0.656, P < 0.05) between CFU-C inhibition and the time until leucocytes reached 0.2 x 10(9)/l. Patients with CFU-C growth inhibition at the time of BMT may show delayed engraftment of leucocytes and that there might be a correlation with VP-16 levels, but further investigation is necessary to determine the significance of the latter thesis and if VP-16 plasma levels could lead to failure of engraftment. We recommend a minimum time interval between VP-16 infusion and graft transplantation of 72 h.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology/Haematology, University-Hospital Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Krüger
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Mross
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bewermeier
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Pichlmeier
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stockschläder
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schleimer
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Zander
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D002648:Child; D005047:Etoposide / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014410:Tumor Stem Cell Assay
chemical_list: D005047:Etoposide