Re: Re: Question about leukapheresis

[Guest guest]

I was one of the first in the world to use leucocytapheresis for CLL back

in the 1970s. My main reason for doing it was to collect large numbers of

CLL cells to experiment on. Incidentally we found that it could lower the

lymphocyte count, but the effect was only transient, lasting no more than a

couple of weeks. It was nothing like as effective as chlorambucil and lowered

normal cells as well. It turns out to be very labor intensive and very

expensive and not a practical proposition as a treatment.

Incidentally, I do know something about how it should be spelled.

'Apheresis' comes from the Greek 'apo-haerein' meaning to choose in a forcible

manner, usually by removing something. From 'haerein' we get 'heresy'. In

English English we have 'aphaeresis' ('apheresis' in American English) meaning

to shorten a word (eg 'racoon' to 'coon'), and early British doctors talked

about the aphaeresis of a leg - meaning amputation. Abel coined the

word 'plasmapheresis' in 1913. He was from Baltimore, so in both British and

American English there is no 'ae' ligature in 'apheresis' as a medical

procedure, though in English English there is one in the grammatical term.

Electrophoresis', though sounding similar, comes from a quite different

Greek root: 'phoreo' meaning 'I carry'. Electrophoresis therefore means to

carry by electricity.

As to whether it should be leucocyte or leukocyte it depends whether you

like the German origin or not.

Terry Hamblin MD