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Harvesting blood stem cells from cranial bone at craniotomy--a preliminary study
Tomomi Iwashita1, Tsuyoshi Tada, Hua Zhan
1Department of Neurosurgery, Aizawa Hospital, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Asahi, Matsumoto, Japan.
Journal of Neuro-Oncology
|October 16, 2003
Summary
Cranial bone marrow contains abundant blood stem cells, sufficient for autologous rescue. This study quantines stem cells in bone flaps harvested during craniotomy for potential therapeutic use.
Area of Science:
- Neurosurgery
- Hematology
- Stem Cell Biology
Background:
- Primary brain tumors rarely invade the cranium despite central nervous system invasiveness.
- The potential for harvesting blood stem cells from cranial bone during surgery remains largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the feasibility of collecting blood stem cells from cranial bone during craniotomy.
- To quantify the number of stem cells and colony-forming units available for potential autologous transplantation.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 181 craniotomy bone specimens using hematoxylin and eosin staining.
- Measurement of marrow volume in 37 specimens via 3D CT scans.
- Culture of viable cells from bone fragments to assess granulocyte/macrophage colony-forming units (CFU-GM) in 10 cases.
Main Results:
- A typical bone flap (35.0 g) contains approximately 3.4 x 10^10 cells, with a marrow ratio of 65.1%.
- Bone marrow cell counts decreased with increasing age.
- Harvested bone pieces yielded significant numbers of stem cells and CFU-GM, with one case collecting 9.7 x 10^8 cells and 4.8 x 10^6 CFU-GM colonies.
Conclusions:
- Cranial bone flaps obtained during craniotomy contain a substantial number of blood stem cells.
- The quantity of stem cells is sufficient for autologous blood stem cell rescue, offering a potential new source for transplantation.