Indications and Types of PBPC

Hematopoietic progenitor cells are capable of unlimited renewal and differentiation into multiple cell lineages including erythrocytes, leukocytes, lymphocytes and platelets. Progenitor cells in human blood were identified in 1971 and transplantation with peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) was first successfully performed in 1985. PBPC collection and transplantation have been described in previous lab news articles (see 3/1995, 2/1996 and12/1997), therefore this review aims to provide an overview and update on current practices in the collection and use of PBPC for the purpose of bone marrow transplantation. Stem Cell Rescue with PBPCs Currently, hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation is mostly used to overcome myeloablation following administration of high-dose chemotherapy for resistant hematopoietic cancers. These progenitor cells can be obtained from bone marrow, peripheral blood or increasingly from umbilical cord blood. Transplant with progenitor cells from all three sites have been successfully used to rescue aplastic bone marrow, but PBPC transplantation results in a faster hematological recovery and involves a less invasive collection procedure with the opportunity for multiple collections if more PBPC are needed. Therefore, PBPC are now used more commonly for hematopoietic rescue than bone marrow. Umbilical cord progenitor cell collection is the least invasive procedure of the three options but offers the additional advantage of a ready source; however, the engraftment time can be even longer than bone marrow or PBPC transplantation and multiple cord blood donors are typically needed for a single adult transplant