Mobilization of endothelial progenitor cells in patients with hematological malignancies after treatment with filgrastim and chemotherapy for autologous transplantation

In recent years, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), gave rise to increasing interest because of their possible use as a therapeutic tool in the treatment of vascular lesions in ischemic tissues or as a target for anti neoplastic therapy. It has been shown that several drugs can increase the number of EPCs into the peripheral blood (PB). However, there is insufficient data concerning the mobilization and collection of EPCs during CD34+ cell mobilization. In this study, we have evaluated EPC mobilization and collection in a series of 47 patients affected by lymphoid neoplasms [31 non Hodgkin lymphoma and 16 multiple myeloma] undergoing CD34+ cell mobilization with cyclophosphamide (4000 mg/m(2)) and Filgrastim (5 mu g/kg). PB EPCs identified by flow cytometry as CD34+/VEGFR2+/CD133+ cells showed a peak on day +10. This peak paralleled that of PB CD34+/CD45+ cells. A direct correlation was observed between CD34+ and CD34+/VEGFR2+/CD133+ cells (r = 0.99 P < 0.0001). An average of 23.7 x 10e6 CD34+/VEGFR2+CD133+ cells have been collected (range 12.1-41.76 x 10e6). These findings showed that in hematological diseases, cyclophosphamide in combination with filgrastim allows the mobilization and collection of large numbers of EPCs which may be used for reparative medicine studies in these patients.