title: Autologous blood cell transplantation in B-CLL: response to chemotherapy prior to mobilization predicts the stem cell yield.
abstract: Successful stem cell mobilization and collection is possible in B-CLL after a favorable response to preceding chemotherapy, and also after treatment with the new nucleoside analogues fludarabine and cladribine. A poor response, on the other hand, seemed to predict a mobilization failure. CD34+ cell selection resulted in a 2- to 3-log reduction of the CLL cells in the harvests. Engraftment with both unselected and selected progenitor cells was rapid, and need for hospitalization was short. High-dose therapy with stem cell rescue appears to be capable of inducing CRs of high quality, but so far the follow-up is too short to define whether this will be translated into prolonged disease-free survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Turku University Central Hospital, Finland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Itälä
authors.forename: T T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Pelliniemi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rajamäki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Remes
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome