Impact of Cryopreservation on Extracorporeal Photopheresis (ECP)-Treated Leukocyte Subsets.

Background: Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) is frequently utilized in the treatment of steroid-refractory acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Although the mechanism of action is not fully understood, it has been postulated that its therapeutic effect is immunologic tolerance linked to the associated apoptosis of the treated cells. Despite significant advances in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), prophylaxis and treatment of GVHD remain a challenge and major limitation associated with this therapy.

Red Cell Depletion of Major ABO Incompatible Bone Marrow Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells HPC(M) with the Spectra Optia®.

Objective: Major ABO incompatible hematopoietic progenitors from bone marrow (HPC(M)) donor collections that are destined for clinical transplantation are typically processed to deplete products of red blood cells (RBCs). The purpose of this study was to compare RBC depletion when using the Spectra Optia® relative to a 2-step method involving a COBE2991 instrument to obtain a buffy coat followed by a hydroxyethyl starch (HES) density gradient (COBE+HES) of the buffy coat.

Methods: Post-processing recoveries of products undergoing 4, 8, and 10 bone marrow processing (BMP) cycles (i.