Enumeration and Viability of Nucleated Cells from Bone Marrow, Cord Blood, and Mobilized Peripheral Blood
Worldwide, more than 25,000 allogeneic
hematopoietic cell transplants are performed each
year. These utilize stem cells isolated from bone
marrow, peripheral blood, and cord blood. For many
years, allogeneic transplantation has been effective
in treating several types of cancer, including acute
myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoblastic
leukemia (ALL), myelodysplasic syndromes (MDS),
non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), chronic myeloid
leukemia (CML), and Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL).
In addition, allogeneic transplantation is being used
to treat several non-malignant disorders, including
severe aplastic anemia (SAA), plasma cell disorders,
and inherited immune and metabolic disorders.
With improved HLA matching and advances in posttransplant support, survival rates are improving each
year. Unrelated donor transplant outcomes are now
comparable to related donor outcomes for several
patient populations. With increased awareness,
expanding donor databases, and advances in
transplant techniques, the annual number of
allogeneic transplants is continuing to grow. In 2010,
approximately 60% of all allogeneic hematopoietic
cell transplants utilized peripheral blood stem cells,
involving a less invasive collection procedure than
traditional bone marrow harvesting. Approximately
20% of transplants involved bone marrow and 20%
utilized cord blood. Pediatric transplants continue to
rely more heavily on bone marrow and cord blood, in
part due to smaller sample requirements.
With the growing number of options for
transplantation, a universal method for accurate
analysis of a wide variety of cell and sample types
is essential. In this application note, we present
a simple, accurate image cytometry method for
determination of nucleated cell concentration and
viability in bone marrow, cord blood, and peripheral
blood at various stages of processing utilizing data
generated in collaboration with AllCells, a market
leader for primary cells.