title: To freeze or not to freeze peripheral blood stem cells prior to allogeneic transplantation from matched related donors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The standard practice in allogeneic stem cell transplant (alloSCT) is to infuse peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) the same day or the day after collection once the patient has received conditioning regimen. To obtain and freeze PBSC prior to SCT would be desirable to get a better logistic and to confirm the quality of the product. Unfortunately, studies comparing both approaches are lacking.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this retrospective study, we analyze the impact of using fresh (N: 107) or previously frozen PBSC (N: 224) on overall outcomes among patients consecutively undergoing alloPBSCT from a matched related donor.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Granulocyte engraftment (>500/mcl × 3 days) was faster in the frozen group (14 vs. 16 days, respectively; P = 0.001), while no significant differences on platelet recovery were observed. Patients receiving frozen PBSC had a higher incidence of global acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) (63 vs. 44%, P < 0.001) mostly involving skin and had an earlier onset (13 vs. 30 days, P < 0.001). Response to first-line treatment with corticoids was similar in both groups. No statistically significant differences were found regarding overall chronic GVHD (58 vs. 66%) nor global survival (44 vs 48%), disease-free survival (39 vs. 33%), non-relapse mortality (24 vs. 16% at 1 year), and relapse rates in the frozen vs. fresh group, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Infusion of previously frozen stem cells may achieve similar overall outcomes compared to fresh infusion, allowing to program donor apheresis and transplantation. However, cryopreservation might influence on the different pattern of aGVHD, issue that deserves further studies.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBIS) Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Rocío
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Parody
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Caballero
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Márquez-Malaver
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vázquez
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saldaña
authors.forename: Ma Dolores
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Madrigal
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Calderón
authors.forename: Estrella
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carrillo
authors.forename: Lucía
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lopez-Corral
authors.forename: Ildefonso
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Espigado
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carmona
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: López-Villar
authors.forename: Jose A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Pérez-Simón
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015925:Cryopreservation; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019653:Myeloablative Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D036102:Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014019:Tissue Donors; D019172:Transplantation Conditioning; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens; D019653:Myeloablative Agonists
keywords: allogeneic transplant; to freeze