Autologous transplantation of blood-derived hemopoietic stem cells after myeloablative therapy in a patient with Burkitt's lymphoma

A patient with Burkitt's lymphoma in complete remission received myeloablative consolidation treatment with superfractionated total body irradation (1,320 rad) and cyclophosphamide (200 mg/kg) followed by autologous transplantation of previously harvested and cryopreserved blood-derived hemopoietic stem cells. Seven successive leukaphereses were performed to yield a total of 55.2 X 10(9) mononuclear cells (MNC) comprising 15.1 X 10(6) CFU-GM or 4.34 X 10(6) CFU-GEMM. Following autologous blood stem cell transplantation (ABSCT), reconstitution of all cell lines occurred very rapidly, ie, 1,000 leucocytes per microL were reached after nine days, 500 granulocytes and 50,000 platelets per microL after ten days. B cells reached normal values around day 35 post- transplantation. CFU-GM first appeared in the circulating blood exhibiting an enormous overshoot. Some days later CFU-GM also appeared in the marrow. The kinetics and pattern of hemopoietic reconstitution after myeloablative treatment and ABSCT provide clear evidence that blood-derived hemopoietic stem cells are capable of completely restoring hemopoietic function in man. A possible reconstitutive advantage of blood over marrow-derived stem cells is discussed.