Successful engraftment of blood derived normal hemopoietic stem cells in chronic myelogenous leukemia.

The ability of blood-derived stem cells to restore hemopoietic function was investigated in a patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia with bone marrow cells containing the Philadelphia chromosome marker (Ph1+). After treatment with high dose cyclophosphamide, 26.3 X 10(9) blood mononuclear leukocytes, among them 26.2 X 10(5) granulocyte/macrophage progenitor cells (CFUC), were harvested by means of 5 successive leukaphereses when the bone marrow cells had converted to Ph1--. When the patient entered the aggressive phase (blast crisis), myeloablative treatment with busulfan (16 mg/kg) and cyclophosphamide (200 mg/kg) was given, followed by transfusion of the cryopreserved blood leukocytes. Restoration of marrow and blood cellularity was completed about 20 days after this autologous blood stem cell transplantation (ABSCT). Marrow CTUC recovery was complete 2 weeks after ABSCT, and all karyotypes of the patient's marrow cells were free of the marker chromosome. The patient died of toxicity but with normal bone marrow cellularity. This report confirms the therapeutic usefulness of autologous blood-derived stem cells harvested in remission in restoring hemopoietic function after myeloablative treatment.