Leukapheresis* by Continuous Flow Centrifugation (CFC) in Patients with Chronic Myelocytic Leukemia (CML)

Abstract

Abstract A closed continuous flow centrifuge (NCI-IBM Blood Cell Separator) was utilized to collect large quantities of leukocytes from donors with chronic myelocytic leukemia. Ninety-eight separate centrifugations of one to six hours duration were performed in 12 patients. Quantities of blood between 2.4-20.3 liters were processed during each centrifugation representing 0.4-3.2 donor blood volumes. An additional five centrifugations were attempted unsuccessfully. Buffy coat cells were collected while plasma and red blood cells were returned to the donor without change in flow or gravitational field. White blood cell yields of up to 75 per cent were obtained while platelet yields were electively varied from 0.1 per cent in donors with thrombocytopenia to 61.0 per cent in donors with thrombocytosis. Red blood cell hemolysis and excessive platelet losses with thrombocytopenia were not observed. One patient developed chills and fever of unknown etiology on two separate occasions, once during and once following CFC Leukocytes collected by this method and transfused into granulocytopenic recipients resulted in granulocyte increments of 2.0 x 103 per mm3 per 1011 granulocytes per m2 of body surface area. The persistence of cells with the Ph1 chromosome in the bone marrow of recipients demonstrated that viable proliferating cells survived the procedure.