Triple purge strategy eliminates chronic myelogenous leukemia cells from autografts

06-08-2006

A triple purge strategy eliminates chronic myelogenous leukemia cells from autografts.

According to a study from the United States, "Imatinib-refractory chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients can experience long-term disease-free survival with myeloablative therapy and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation; however, associated complications carry a significant risk of mortality."

"Transplantation of autologous hematopoietic cells has a reduced risk of complications, but residual tumor cells in the autograft may contribute to relapse. Development of methods for purging tumor cells that do not compromise the engraftment potential of the normal hematopoietic cells in the autograft has been a long-standing goal," said H. Yang and colleagues at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

"Since primitive CML cells differentiate more rapidly in vitro than their normal counterparts and are also preferentially killed by mafosfamide and imatinib, we examined the purging effectiveness on CD34+ CML cells using a strategy that combines a brief exposure to imatinib (0.5-1.0 mcM for 72 hours) and then mafosfamide (30-90 mcg/mL for 30 minutes) followed by 2 weeks in culture with cytokines (100 ng/mL each of stem cell factor, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and thrombopoietin).

"Treatment with 1.0 mcM imatinib, 60 mcg/mL mafosfamide and 14 days of culture with cytokines eliminated BCR-ABL+ cells from chronic phase CML patient aphereses, while preserving normal progenitors," scientists reported.

Yang concluded, "This novel purging strategy may offer a new approach to improving the effectiveness of autologous transplantation in imatinib-refractory CML patients."

Yang and colleagues published the results of their research in Bone Marrow Transplantation (A novel triple purge strategy for eliminating chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells from autografts. Bone Marrow Transplant, 2006;37(6):575-582).

For additional information, contact H. Yang, University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dept. Blood & Marrow Transplantation, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA.

The publisher of the journal Bone Marrow Transplantation can be contacted at: Nature Publishing Group, Macmillan Building, 4 Crinan St., London N1 9XW, England.

Keywords: Houston, Texas, United States, Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Cells, Tumor Cell Purging, Autologous Transplantation, Imatinib-Refractory Patients.

This article was prepared by Clinical Oncology Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2006, Clinical Oncology Week via NewsRx.com.