Source of Stem Cells for transplantation

[Pooja]

What are the sources for human stem Cells transplantation ?

[Quinn]

@pooja For human stem cell transplant, stem cells can be collected from various sources, which include the following:

Marrow
Blood
Umbilical cord blood during delivery
Bone marrow is the traditional source of stem cells for both autologous and homologous transplants. The success of collection of mobilized stem cells from peripheral blood was a milestone in the history of transplant. A number of clinical trials have proved the superiority of this method over collection from the bone marrow. [4, 5]

Pilot studies of autologous stem cell transplantation using peripheral blood have demonstrated rapid engraftment with this technique. With the infusion of 5 million CD34+ cells, the recovery time for platelets to a target of 20,000/μL is possible within 2 weeks.

The incidence of acute GVHD is similar with the two methods. However, because of higher number of T cells infused in cases of peripheral blood as a source, the incidence of chronic GVHD is higher.

Overall survival and disease-free survival are slightly better in cases of peripheral blood.