Allogeneic transplantation using peripheral blood stem cells

Over the past 9 years there has been a remarkable increase in the use of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) for allogeneic transplantation, primarily for matched sibling transplants but also increasingly for unrelated donor transplantation. In 1999 over 50% of all sibling transplants and over 25% of unrelated donor transplants reported to the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) used PBSC. The major reason for this increasing use of PBSC relates to the rapid haemopoietic recovery seen which mirrors the advantages of using PBSC in autologous transplantation. This improvement in engraftment is a consequence of the larger number of stem cells that can be collected from G-CSF-mobilized peripheral blood compared to bone marrow. Evidence from randomized trials now shows a survival advantage for the use of PBSC in patients with advanced leukaemia. The reason for this improved survival appears primarily to relate to a reduced risk of transplant-related mortality and, possibly, a reduced risk of relapse, However, these randomized studies have also confirmed that there is an increased risk of chronic graft-versus-host disease associated with PBSC transplantation and further follow-up is required to determine the long-term impact on outcome.