Establishment of a neuroblastoma cell line and induction of lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) activity against the autologous neuroblastoma cell line.

We have established a new human neuroblastoma (NB) cell line from the bone marrow of a 1-year-old boy with NB, termed JK-NB1, which showed constant growth for as long as 17 months or more, similar phenotype to those of other reported NB cell lines, colony formation in liquid and methylcellulose culture, N-myc amplification, high expression of N-CAM, and NSE production. We have tried to induce LAK cell activity with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from the patient against the autochthonous JK-NB cells. PBMCs from the patient proliferated up to 20-fold in the presence of interleukin-2 (IL-2) after 9 days of incubation, and LAK activity increased up to 24.

Prediction of engraftment after peripheral blood stem cell transplantation by CD34-positive cells in grafts.

A total of 91 peripheral blood stem cell collections were performed in 26 children with various malignant tumors and peripheral blood stem cell transplantations (PBSCT) were performed in 15 of the children. There was a positive correlation between logarithm of total CD34+ cells/kg and logarithm of colony-forming unit-granulocyte macrophage (CFU-GM)/kg (r = 0.86).