Genetic marking shows that Ph+ cells present in autologous transplants of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) contribute to relapse after autologous bone marrow in CML

Albert B. Deisseroth, Zhifei Zu, David Claxton, Elie G. Hanania, Siqing Fu, Debra Ellerson, Leah Goldberg, Michael Thomas, Karen Janicek, W. French Anderson, Jeane Hester, Martin Korbling, April Durett, Robert Moen, Ronald Berenson, Shelly Heimfeld, Joy Hamer, Leslie Calvert, Patricia Tibbits, Moshe TalpazHagop Kantarjian, Richard Champlin, Christopher Reading

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

491 Scopus citations

Abstract

Relapse after autologous bone marrow transplantation for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) can be due either to the persistence of leukemia cells in systemic tissues following preparative therapy, or due to the persistence of leukemia cells in the autologous marrow used to restore marrow function after intensive therapy. To help distinguish between these two possible causes of relapse, we used safety-modified retroviruses, which contain the bacterial resistance gene NEO, to mark autologous marrow cells that had been collected from patients early in the phase of hematopoietic recovery after in vivo chemotherapy. The cells were then subjected to ex vivo CD34 selection following collection and 30% of the bone marrow were exposed to a safety-modified virus. This marrow was infused after delivery of systemic therapy, which consisted of total body irradiation (1,020 cGy), cyclophosphamide (120 mg/kg), and VP-16 (750 mg/m2). RT PCR assays specific for the bacterial NEO mRNA, which was coded for by the virus, and the bcr- abl mRNA showed that in two evaluable CML patients transplanted with marked cells, sufficient numbers of leukemia cells remained in the infused marrow to contribute to systemic relapse. In addition, both normal and leukemic cells positive for the retroviral transgenome persisted in the systemic circulation of the patients for at least 280 days posttransplant showing that the infused marrow was responsible for the return of hematopoiesis following the preparative therapy. This observation shows that it is possible to use a replication-incompetent safety-modified retrovirus in order to introduce DNA sequences into the hematopoietic cells of patients undergoing autologous bone marrow transplantation. Moreover, this data suggested that additional fractionation procedures will be necessary to reduce the probability of relapse after bone marrow transplantation in at least the advanced stages of the disease in CML patients undergoing autologous bone marrow transplantation procedures.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3068-3076
Number of pages9
JournalBlood
Volume83
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - May 15 1994

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Immunology
  • Hematology
  • Cell Biology

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