Current status of peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation

Peripheral blood hematopoietic progenitor cells are primitive cells capable of both self-renewal and terminal differentiation. Cells can be collected in large numbers from the peripheral blood following their stimulation by cytokine administration or during the hematologic recovery phase following chemotherapy administration. Following their collection from the peripheral blood, these cells have been used both as a supplement and an alternative to bone marrow in providing hematologic reconstitution following high-dose chemotherapy and/or radiation. This article describes the biology of these cells, reviews current methods for their acquisition, and discusses the clinical applications in which they have been found useful.