title: Immunomagnetic selection of CD34+ peripheral blood stem cells for autografting in patients with breast cancer.
abstract: Contamination of transplants with tumour cells may contribute to relapse after peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT). We studied the feasibility of CD34+ cell selection from blood-derived autografts obtained following G-CSF-supported cytotoxic chemotherapy in a group of 25 patients with breast cancer (10 with high-risk stage II/III and 15 with stage IV without bone or bone marrow involvement). Using immunomagnetic beads (Isolex 300 SA. Baxter) CD34+ cells were enriched and released by chymopapain resulting in a median purity of 95% (range 82-99%) and a median recovery of 80% (range 27-132%). The enrichment procedure did not change the proportion of CD34+ subsets coexpressing HLA-DR, CD38 and Thy-1, while L-selectin was removed from the cell surface following selection. Using a sensitive immunocytological technique with a cocktail of epithelial-specific antibodies (anti-cytokeratin 8, 18 and 19; HEA125; BM7 and BM8), five leukaphereses products contained epithelial cells, whereas the selected CD34+ cell fraction was free of tumour cells. A neutrophil count of 0.5 x 10(9)/l and a platelet count of 20 x 10(9)/l was reached after a median time of 14 and 10d following 40 high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) cycles. Our results indicate that immunomagnetic selection of CD34+ cells yields highly purified autografts devoid of tumour cells whereas the engraftment ability of the progenitor and stem cells is fully retained.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine V, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hohaus
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pförsich
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murea
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abdallah
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Funk
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Voso
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaul
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wallwiener
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Haas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018952:Antigens, CD34; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D006085:Graft Survival; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D018189:Immunomagnetic Separation; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous
chemical_list: D018952:Antigens, CD34; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor