Allogeneic Hemapoietic Progenitor Cell Collection Using Four Different Cell Separators: A Retrospective Comparative Analysis.

The number of centers choosing peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) source for allogeneic transplants is rapidly growing. To evaluate the current practice of PBSC collection and apheresis technology, we analyzed the efficiency of four different cell separators. Forty procedures, (10 for each separator) performed on various cell separators (Baxter-Amicus, Fenwal CS3000+, COBE-Spectra and Fresenius AS204), were analyzed retrospectively. All the donors were HLA identical siblings of the patients (M/F: 16/14) with a median age of 33 years (range, 16–62). There was no statistical difference between donor’s body weight (mean 35.7±15.8) and age between four groups. They received 5mcg/kg rhG-CSF (Amgen-Roche) sc. twice daily for 4 days and the stem cell collection was performed on the subsequent dose of G-CSF on day 5. Two to three times the total blood volume (total processed volume <13L) was processed for a target of 4x10e6/kg CD34⁺ cells. In all procedures peripheral veins were used for venous access and the mean procedure duration was 238±50 min. The soft ware versions installed for Amicus, CS3000+, Cobe and AS204 were 2.51, 3.81, 5.1 LRS, and 1.1.6.3 respectively. The volume of harvest material was significantly higher in AS-204 (p=0.0001) in comparison to remaining devices. The MNC and CD34 collection efficiency and adverse event rates were almost the same in all equipments. CD34⁺ cells of the harvest material and CD34⁺ gain per processed blood volume (CD34⁺x10e6/L) were not statistically different. Amicus showed significantly less platelet contamination in the harvest material (p=0.0001) in comparison to remaining apheresis devices. Post-procedural donor’s platelet loss was also significantly less with this device (p=0.0001). In conclusion all devices have a similar MNC and CD34⁺ cell collection efficiency and CD34⁺ cell gain per processed blood volume, but Amicus showed a clear benefit by lower drop rate of donor’s platelets, which led to lower contamination of the harvest material. Less contamination of the harvest material and donor’s minor platelet drop were advantages of Amicus device over CS3000+, Spectra and AS-204 concerning cell processing and donor safety, respectively.

Comparison of Different Cell Separators