Guest guest Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 Bone Marrow or Peripheral Blood Stem Cells? Stem cells collected from blood are associated with more rapid bone marrow recovery and greater ease of collection than stem cells collected from bone marrow. In the early 1990's, doctors began evaluating whether a growth factor ( Neupogen®) administered to normal donors could mobilize enough stem cells into the blood for collection and support of an allogeneic stem cell transplant. Comparisons evaluating stem cells collected from bone marrow and stem cells collected from peripheral blood have been performed in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplant. Patients infused with stem cells collected from blood have faster recovery of bone marrow blood cell production; fewer red blood cell and platelet transfusions; and shorter admissions to the hospital than patients treated with allogeneic stem cells collected from bone marrow. In patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplant, Neupogen®-mobilized stem cells also appear to provide more rapid bone marrow recovery compared to stem cells collected from bone marrow. The main side effect stem cell donors experience is mild bone pain from the Neupogen injection. Additionally, Neupogen® mobilization of blood stem cells also results in many more T-lymphocytes being collected. The increased numbers of T-lymphocytes could make graft-versus-host disease worse or have an anti-cancer effect. In order to determine the best source of stem cells for allogeneic stem cell transplant, clinical trials are currently being performed that directly compare stem cells collected from blood or bone marrow. Recently, doctors in Holland have been able to grow and expand lymphocytes outside the body that kill leukemia cells without damaging normal cells. They have now infused these lymphocytes into a patient with leukemia who had relapsed after an allogeneic bone marrow transplant. Following infusion of the lymphocytes, this patient achieved a complete disappearance of leukemia. This may represent the first time expanded T-lymphocytes have been shown to have a beneficial anti-cancer effect when infused into a patient. This observation is important because the technique can potentially be used against a variety of cancers and offer a less toxic and more specific approach to cancer therapy. http://tinyurl.com/4lvnepq FYI, Lottie Duthu FYI, Lottie Duthu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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