Autologous blood stem cell transplantation in hematological malignancies

Autologous blood stem cell transplants (ABSCT) are increasingly used for the treatment of haematological malignancies. The use of hemopoietic growth factors, in conjunction with stem cell mobilization by chemotherapeutic agents, has permitted successful harvests requiring only a few leukaphereses; cells mobilized in this manner contain a relatively large number of committed precursors of all lineages, as well as early progenitor cells capable of maintaining long-term haemopoiesis. Haematological recovery after ABSCT is rapid, thereby significantly shortening the period of post-chemotherapy neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. Furthermore, blood-derived grafts may contain fewer malignant cells than the bone marrow cells. The preliminary results have been so encouraging that it is envisaged that in myeloma, Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin lymphomas, ABSCT may eventually replace autologous marrow transplantation.