title: Total colony-forming units are a strong, independent predictor of neutrophil and platelet engraftment after unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation: a single-center analysis of 435 cord blood transplants.
abstract: Graft failure occurs in approximately 20% of patients after unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT). This could be because of inadequate potency of the cord blood unit (CBU). To this end, we investigated the impact of graft characteristics on engraftment and survival of 435 primarily pediatric (median age: 5.3 years) patients receiving a single-unit unrelated UCBT after myeloablative conditioning from 2000 to 2008. Pre-cryopreservation (pre-cryo) graft characteristics were provided by the banks. Post-thaw parameters were measured on dextran/albumin-washed grafts. Post-thaw recovery of the colony-forming unit (CFU), a biological assay reflecting functional viability of the cord blood cells was the lowest percent age (median 21.2%, mean 36.5%) of the pre-cryo value, regardless of the bank of origin. The cumulative incidences of neutrophil and platelet engraftment were 76.9% (95%, confidence interval [CI], 71.3%-82.5%) and 55% (95% CI, 49.3%-60.7%), respectively. Univariate and separate multivariate models using pre-cryo and post-thaw datasets including clinical parameters identified predictors of engraftment and survival. In multivariate modeling, higher CFU dosing was the only pre-cryo graft characteristic predictive of neutrophil (P = .0024) and platelet engraftment (P = .0063). In the post-thaw model, CFU dose best predicted neutrophil and platelet engraftment (both P < .0001). Comparatively, CD34(+) and total nucleated cell (TNC) were only weakly predictive in post-thaw neutrophil and platelet engraftment models, respectively. In conclusion, CFU dose is a strong independent predictor of engraftment after unrelated UCBT and should be used to assess potency when selecting CBUs for transplantation.
authors.affiliation: The Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA. kristin.page@duke.edu
authors.forename: Kristin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Page
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mendizabal
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wease
authors.forename: Shelly
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gentry
authors.forename: Andrew E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Balber
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kurtzberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000502:physiology; D002452:Cell Count; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D036101:Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000502:physiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult