Blood transfusion safety: a new philosophy.

Blood transfusion safety has had a chequered history, and there are current and future challenges. Internationally, there is no clear consensus for many aspects of the provision of safe blood, although pan-national legislation does provide a baseline framework in the European Union. Costs are rising, and new safety measures can appear expensive, especially when tested against some other medical interventions, such as cancer treatment and vaccination programmes. In this article, it is proposed that a comprehensive approach is taken to the issue of blood transfusion safety that considers all aspects of the process rather than considering only new measures. The need for an agreed level of safety for specified and unknown risks is also suggested. The importance of providing care and support for those inadvertently injured as a result of transfusion problems is also made. Given that the current blood safety decision process often uses a utilitarian principle for decision making--through the calculation of Quality Adjusted Life Years--an alternative philosophy is proposed. A social contract for blood safety, based on the principles of 'justice as fairness' developed by John Rawls, is recommended as a means of providing an agreed level of safety, containing costs and providing support for any adverse outcomes.

Immature monocytes from G-CSF-mobilized peripheral blood stem cell collections carry surface-bound IL-10 and have the potential to modulate alloreactivity.

Production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 by monocytes has been implicated as a probable negative regulator of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplants (SCT). Monocytes from G-CSF-mobilized peripheral blood stem cell (gmPBSC) collections have been reported to produce more IL-10 than unmobilized monocytes in response to proinflammatory factors such as LPS. Why this should occur is unclear. In this study, monocyte phenotype and IL-10 localization and release were investigated in PB mononuclear cells (MNC) from 27 healthy donors mobilized for allogeneic SCT and from 13 patients with hematological malignancies mobilized for autologous SCT. All isolates contained elevated total percentages of monocytes in comparison with unmobilized PB, a high proportion of which displayed an immature phenotype. Stimulation of gmPB MNC with an inflammatory stimulus [fixed Staphylococcus aureus cells (SAC)] induced rapid up-regulation of CD14, indicating conversion to mature status. Localization studies indicated that IL-10 was predominantly present, bound on the surface of CD64(+)/CD14(low/neg) immature monocytes. Inflammatory stimuli (LPS, polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid, or SAC) induced release of variable quantities of IL-10 from the cell surface. MNC, separated into surface IL-10-positive or -negative fractions, differed in their ability to stimulate alloreactivity in MLR, and IL-10(+) MNC induced significantly lower levels of proliferation than IL-10(-) MNC. Thus, the subset of immature monocytes carrying surface-bound IL-10 in gmPB has the potential to modulate alloreactivity and GvHD after allogeneic SCT through cell-to-cell contact and released IL-10.

The EU optimal blood use project.

The EU optimal blood use project (EUOBUP) is co-funded by the European Commission and led by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS). Its purpose is to develop, evaluate and disseminate a manual that provides practical guidance and support for those seeking to improve the safety of the clinical transfusion process and the effectiveness of the prescribing of blood components. We define the optimal use of blood components as the safe, clinically effective and efficient use of the scarce resource of donated human blood. The project will build on the experience of a pilot project in optimal use of blood in the national health service in Scotland. This pilot developed training resources in the safe and effective use of blood and delivered training to a large number of practitioners. It has also developed systems to provide hospitals with comparative information on their use of blood components for specific clinical groups of patients to assist them in reviewing practice against that of their peers.

CD34-positive cells isolated from cryopreserved peripheral-blood progenitor cells can be expanded ex vivo and used for transplantation with little or no toxicity.

PURPOSE: The objectives of this phase I study were to assess the feasibility of using cryopreserved peripheral-blood progenitor cells (PBPC) for large-scale CD34 selection and subsequent expansion, and the safety of their use for reinfusion following chemoradiotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: For 10 patients with nonmyeloid malignancy, an aliquot from a PBPC harvest was recovered from liquid nitrogen, and CD34 selected using the Isolex system (Baxter Healthcare, Newbury, United Kingdom) and expanded for 8 days ex vivo in a medium free of animal proteins but supplemented with autologous serum, stemcell factor (SCF), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), IL-3, IL-6, and erythropoietin. RESULTS: The mean increase for cell number was 21-fold, for colony-forming units-granulocyte/macrophage (CFU-GM) 139-fold, and for burst-forming units-erythroid (BFU-E) 114-fold. The expanded cells were reinfused in tandem with unmanipulated material (> or = 25 x 10(4) CFU-GM/kg). The patients did not experience any adverse effects immediately on cell infusion or within 48 hours. The 10 index patients were compared with 10 historical controls for parameters of myelosuppressive morbidity. In this small study, there were no differences in either neutrophil or platelet recovery between the patients who received expanded cells and historical controls. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate that CD34 cells can successfully be selected from cryopreserved material, expanded ex vivo on a large scale, and safely reinfused following myeloablative conditioning regimens.

Normal and neoplastic human plasma cells express bcl-2 antigen.

The bcl-2 (B-cell leukaemia/lymphoma 2) proto-oncogene is associated with the 14;18 translocation in follicular lymphoma juxtaposing bcl-2 with the immunoglobulin heavy chain region. bcl-2 has been cloned and sequenced and a monoclonal antibody to amino acids 41 to 54 of the bcl-2 protein has been raised. The expression of bcl-2 in follicular lymphoma has been demonstrated by immunohistological staining and also in normal lymphocytes. The presence of the bcl-2 onco-protein has been demonstrated by immunofluorescence using conventional and confocal microscopy in normal and malignant plasma cells from myeloma patients and myeloma cell lines. Plasma cells from 8/8 normal donors were positive, although the proportion of positive cells and the intensity of staining varied. Eight of 10 patients with myeloma or plasma cell leukaemia had positive plasma cells, and 6/11 plasma cell lines and one lymphoma cell line also expressed the onco-protein. bcl-2 expression is a feature of normal plasma cells and data from the cell lines confirm that expression is not dependent on the presence of the 14;18 translocation.

Peripheral blood progenitor cell mobilisation in patients with multiple myeloma following oral idarubicin and dexamethasone (Z-Dex) induction therapy.

Difficulties associated with current intensive induction regimens for multiple myeloma and uncertainty as to how to achieve optimal peripheral blood progenitor cell mobilisation (PBPC) prompted this study of an oral induction regimen, Z-Dex (oral idarubicin and dexamethasone) followed by PBPC mobilisation using four different regimens. Thirty-patients received Z-Dex (median age 56 years, range 46-66 years) including 24 patients with previously untreated disease. The overall response rate was 75% with a CR rate of 16.7% and PR rate of 75.7% in patients with previously untreated disease. We compared four mobilisation regimens: low-dose (LD) cyclophosphamide, high-dose (HD) cyclophosphamide, cis-platin/VP16 and cis-platin, Ara-C and dexamethasone (DHAP). Failure to mobilise optimal numbers of PBPCs (>1.0 x 10(6) CD34+ cells/kg and >20 x 10(4) CFU-GM/kg) was seen in two patients who received LD cyclophosphamide, in two patients who received HD cyclophosphamide and three patients who received cis-platin/VP16. No patient failed to mobilise adequate numbers of PBPCs following DHAP. In previously untreated patients, DHAP mobilised significantly more PBPC than LD cyclophosphamide (P=0.02), HD cyclophosphamide (P=0.0015) and cis-platin/VP16 (P=0.021). This study demonstrates the efficacy of Z-Dex in inducing tumour responses in patients with multiple myeloma without limiting PBPC mobilisation in subsequent dose-intensive schedules. Furthermore, we also demonstrate that DHAP is superior to cyclophosphamide (low- and high-dose) and cis-platin/VP16 in mobilising PBPCs and demonstrated a degree of tumour control.

ETV6/AML1 fusion by FISH in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Dual-color interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with ETV6 and AML1 probes was used for the first time on a series of 159 adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), for detection of the t(12;21)(p13;q22) translocation. Seven patients (4.4%) were found, with 50-100% of positive cells, of whom one of two tested, proved negative for the fusion product by RT-PCR. Two of them, aged 43 and 50 years, are the oldest patients so far confirmed to have the translocation. Three who relapsed at 10, 11 and 24 months, suggest that adults may not enjoy the good short-term prognosis reported for t(12;21)-positive children. Thirty-one-negative cases had signal numbers differing from the two expected for each gene. In 15 cases these results were consistent with the karyotype. In nine cases with uninformative cytogenetics, the numbers were consistent with those for centromeres and indicated a hidden aneuploidy. Loss of ETV6 genes in two cases and AML1 amplification in three others were not suspected from the cytogenetics. In conclusion, FISH proved to be reliable in defining ETV6/AML1 positivity in this group of patients as well as providing valuable insights into negative cases.

Transforming growth factor beta from multiple myeloma cells inhibits proliferation and IL-2 responsiveness in T lymphocytes.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cancer of plasma cells, characterized by profound suppression of host immune responses. Here we show that MM cell lines significantly suppress the proliferation, blasting, response to interleukin-2 (IL-2), and expression of CD25 by concanavalin A (Con A)-activated or allostimulated peripheral blood T lymphocytes. T cells arrest in the G1 stage of the cell cycle, and do not enter the IL-2 autocrine growth pathway. T cell inhibition was mediated by a soluble factor. MM cell lines did not produce IL-10 but did produce large amounts of transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1). T cells were assessed for their ability to respond to IL-2 when co-cultured with MM cells in the presence or absence of the TGF-beta inhibitor, TGF-beta latency-associated peptide (LAP). MM cells suppressed IL-2 responses but this inhibition was completely reversed by TGF-beta LAP. A CD25-, IL-2-dependent blast cell line was not inhibited by MM cells or rhTGF-beta, confirming the specificity of the inhibition mechanism for the IL-2 autocrine growth pathway. We conclude that MM cells suppress T cells in their entry into the autocrine IL-2/CD25 pathway and in response to IL-2, and that TGF-beta has a significant role to play.

Multiple myeloma: the biology of malignant plasma cells.

Multiple myeloma remains a difficult disorder to treat and cures are virtually unknown. Most modalities of treatment have been tried on an empirical basis, and a greater understanding of the nature of myeloma progenitors may lead to more specific therapies. In the past few years interest in the biology of myeloma plasma cells has increased and the current state of knowledge is summarised in this review. Myeloma clonogenic, or colony, assays have been attempted by many groups. Despite this, no direct equivalent is available of the CFU-GM assay for granulocyte-macrophage progenitors in normal marrow. No published methods have been exported widely to other laboratories. Recently, myeloma plasma cells were found to express a wide range of adhesion molecules permitting cell to cell and cell to stroma interactions. This finding may explain the difficulty of myeloma colony assays, since adhesive clumping must be prevented. The observation that interleukin (IL)-6 can stimulate myeloma plasma cells led to further work with other cytokines such as IL-3 and GM-CSF. The precise role of IL-6 in the usual case of bone marrow myeloma remains unclear however.

Expression of adhesion molecules in malignant plasma cells in multiple myeloma: comparison with normal plasma cells and functional significance.

Malignant plasma cells in multiple myeloma are predominantly confined to the bone marrow, where they stimulate cytokine production by stromal cells and bone cells leading to osteoclast activation and formation of the characteristic lytic lesions in the skeleton. Adhesion molecules are critically involved in the cellular interactions between myeloma cells and stromal elements and may represent novel therapeutic targets to reduce osteolytic bone disease in multiple myeloma. Here, we review the literature on the adhesion molecule repertoire expressed by malignant plasma cells and discuss the evidence that adhesive interactions between myeloma cells and stromal cells stimulate production of bone-resorbing cytokines.

Transmission of thyrotoxicosis of autoimmune type by sibling allogeneic bone marrow transplant.

This case report is on a 25-year-old male with acute myeloblastic leukaemia who achieved a remission after cytoxic therapy and whole-body irradiation. He received a bone marrow transplant from his human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-identical sister who had unsuspected autoimmune thyroid disease. Nine months later the bone marrow recipient developed thyrotoxicosis of autoimmune type at a time when his circulating lymphocytes were of 46XX karyotype. It is suspected that the thyrotoxicosis resulted from the transplantation of a clone of lymphocytes predisposed to the production of thyroid-stimulating autoantibodies.

Mobilisation of Ph-negative peripheral blood stem cells in CML with idarubicin and cytarabine.

Recent interest in autologous transplantation in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) has focused on attempts to select out putatively normal Ph-negative progenitor cells for subsequent reinfusion after high dose therapy. One way in which this may be achieved is by collecting peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) during the early regenerative phase following chemotherapy when Ph-negative cells seem to have a short term proliferative advantage. Data now suggest that it is possible to collect Ph-negative (and occasionally PCR negative) progenitor cells in a significant number of CML patients, a proportion of whom will go on to achieve a cytogenetic remission post-autografting. The durability of these remissions and the effect on long term survival remain to be established and at present this form of therapy should be reserved for those unsuitable for allogeneic transplantation who have failed to achieve a major cytogenetic response to interferon-alpha.

Iron overload and liver dysfunction after allogeneic or autologous bone marrow transplantation.

Patients who require a bone marrow transplant (BMT) for leukaemia, lymphoma or other haematological disorders receive large quantities of blood products, including red cell concentrates, during the transplant period. Many receive red cell transfusions as part of treatment prior to BMT, adding to the potential iron load. However, organ dysfunction as a consequence of the transfused iron load would be surprising given the amounts of iron transfused. We studied 76 survivors of allogeneic and autologous BMT who were at least 1 year post-transplant and found that the majority (88%) had raised ferritins. Impaired liver function was common in these patients and in half was unexplained by viral hepatitis, veno-occlusive disease or graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), suggesting that iron overload may be an important contributing factor to liver disease in the stable post-transplant setting. This view is supported by the observation of improving liver function tests in 10 patients after a trial of venesection therapy.

Randomised vehicle-controlled dose-finding study of glycosylated recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor after bone marrow transplantation.

A multicentre, randomised vehicle-controlled single-blind dose ranging trial of intravenous recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhuG-CSF) administration after BMT has been performed in 121 patients with non-myeloid malignancies. All the doses of rhuG-CSF used (2-20 micrograms/kg/day) resulted in significant acceleration of neutrophil recovery, and a dose-response effect was apparent (p < 0.05). At the 20 micrograms/kg/day dose of rhuG-CSF the median time taken to achieve a neutrophil count of > 0.5 x 10(9)/1 was reduced from 19 to 13 days (p < 0.001) and the time to achieve a neutrophil count > 1.0 x 10(9)/1 on the first of 3 consecutive days, from 26 to 14 days (p < 0.001). There was a trend to less antibiotic use in the rhuG-CSF recipients and the median time in hospital was markedly reduced by 11-15 days (p < 0.01). There was no toxicity in this study attributable to rhuG-CSF.

Autologous bone marrow transplantation for patients with acute myeloid leukaemia and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia--a comparison.

Forty-two patients with acute leukaemia were treated with autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) using a combination chemotherapy protocol for bone marrow ablation. The response to high-dose chemotherapy and ABMT and its associated morbidity and mortality have been compared in 24 patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and 18 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). In 16 patients with AML treated with ABMT during first complete remission (CR), ten patients (62.5%) remain in unmaintained remission; median follow up is 32 months. In eight patients with ALL treated in first CR, only one remains in remission 32 months post-ABMT, with three patients dying non-leukaemic deaths. Fourteen of 18 patients (AML and ALL) treated after first remission have died of recurrent leukaemia, two died non-leukaemic deaths and two remain well 31 and 55 months post-ABMT; both have ALL. The length of hospital stay and the amount of blood product support were similar in both groups. Haematological recovery post-ABMT was delayed in patients with AML compared to patients with ALL but this difference was not significant. Rapidly progressive lung infection was thought to be the cause of four early deaths (4/18) in patients with ALL but none in patients with AML. Severe gram-negative infections were significantly more common in patients with AML.

CD34 positive PBPC expanded ex vivo may not provide durable engraftment following myeloablative chemoradiotherapy regimens.

We have previously demonstrated that CD34+ cells, selected from peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC), can be expanded in ex vivo culture and can be infused in tandem with unmanipulated PBPC with little or no toxicity. In this study, four patients (two non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), two multiple myeloma (MM)) received myeloablative conditioning prior to stem cell rescue using ex vivo expanded cells alone. The two patients with NHL received cyclophosphamide and total body irradiation (CY/TBI) and the two patients with MM, busulphan and melphalan (Bu/M). One case received an inadequate CFU-GM dose, despite expansion, and in one case the expanded cells were contaminated. No definitive conclusions may therefore be drawn concerning engraftment in these two cases. However, the other two cases received high doses of committed progenitors. Following infusion of the expanded material, all four patients failed to show sustained neutrophil engraftment and none showed evidence of platelet engraftment. Back-up, unmanipulated PBPC were therefore infused on days 14, 34, 32 and 28 and subsequently all four cases achieved satisfactory engraftment of both neutrophils and platelets. In conclusion, we feel that, CD34+ cells, expanded ex vivo using the conditions described in this report, may not provide durable engraftment following fully myeloablative conditioning.

Successful pregnancies in women following single autotransplant for acute myeloid leukemia with a chemotherapy ablation protocol.

Of 30 women surviving a minimum of 18 months following treatment for AML with a high-dose chemotherapy regimen with autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT), 24 were premenopausal at the time of transplantation. All were given a detailed questionnaire concerning menstruation, menopausal symptoms and pregnancy; 22 responded. Of these 22, 10 had received a single transplant procedure and 12 a double transplant procedure. In the 10 recipients of a single transplant, 4 women (age range 32-50 years) developed ovarian failure and 6 (age range 21-32 years) resumed spontaneous cyclical menstruation. Five of the 6 menstruating women became pregnant between 4 and 40 months following ABMT. Three pregnancies went to term and each resulted in the delivery of a full-term apparently normal infant. Of the 12 women who received a double ABMT (age range 32-47 years), 11 developed clinical and/or biochemical evidence of ovarian failure. The median age in the latter group was 35 years, however, compared with 28 years in the single ABMT group. These data show that it is possible to give a single very high-dose course of chemotherapy in younger patients without compromising fertility.

A comparison of peripheral blood and buffy coat smear examination for the prediction of bone marrow relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in childhood.

In an attempt to see if buffy coat smear examination might be an alternative to bone marrow aspiration for predicting relapse, 98 consecutive bone marrow aspirates from 96 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia were examined blind with buffy coat and peripheral blood from the same patients. The 28 bone marrow aspirates from children no longer on treatment were all normal, and routine aspirates would appear unjustified in these patients. Eight of the remaining marrows showed relapse, but only three were not predicted from the peripheral blood and buffy coat. In no case was buffy coat superior to peripheral blood in the detection of bone marrow relapse. Routine bone marrow aspirates are an inefficient way of diagnosing relapse in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in childhood, despite their precision, and a prospective study is needed to determine their value.

Detection of bone marrow invasion by neuroblastoma is improved by sampling at two sites with both aspirates and trephine biopsies.

Two hundred and eight serial bone marrow samples from 49 consecutively diagnosed children with neuroblastoma were studied retrospectively for evidence of tumour invasion. Bone marrow involvement was found in 24 patients at diagnosis and in four more at a later stage in their disease. Trephine biopsies were more effective than aspirates for tumour detection in 20% of the 154 paired aspirate/trephine procedures, whilst the reverse was the case in 7%. Imprints of trephines gave no additional information. Bilateral sampling (aspirates and trephines) improved the tumour detection rate by 10% over that attained by sampling a single site. There was some correlation between specific appearances in aspirate and in trephine samples, for example the hypocellular smear and the trephine biopsy showing much stromal reaction to tumour infiltration. Bilateral iliac crest bone marrow aspirates and trephine biopsies are indicated in children with neuroblastoma, both for initial staging and for monitoring of progress.