Transplantation of autologous peripheral blood progenitor cells: Impact of CD34-cell selection on immunological reconstitution

Peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) represent an ideal source of stem cells for autologous transplantation because of technical advantages and more favourable engraftment kinetics. The reconstituion of a functional immune system occurs earlier in patients transplanted with cytokine-mobilized autologous PBPC compared with bone marrow; because of the greater T-cell content in PBPC products, donor-derived antigen-specific T-cells transferred with the graft might contribute to short-term immunity in transplant recipients. Despite a prompt reconstitution of B- and T-cell numbers, both B- and T-cell function are profoundly impaired for a prolonged period of time after PBPC infusion. The positive selection of CD34(+) cells might provide effective tumor cell purging without compromising hematopoietic recovery in patients with acute leukemia, multiple myeloma, breast cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, whose autografts have been reported to contain malignant cells which might promote disease relapse. However, the incidence of viral infections in the early posttransplant period might be increased after CD34-selected compared with unmanipulated PBPC transplants, as a result of the lack of accessory and immune cells in the graft. The purpose of this review is to provide an update on immunological reconstitution after transplantation of autologous PBPC; in particular, emphasis will be placed on the mechanisms of immune dysfunction after the infusion of unmanipulated and CD34-selected autografts.