Novel cell population data from a haematology analyzer can predict timing and efficiency of stem cell transplantation

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) is a necessary component for many oncohematological diseases treatment. For a successful result of AHSCT a sufficient quantity of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) is needed. It has been proposed that morphological changes of myeloid cells could reflect the processes of bone marrow stimulation and may provide useful information to predict the stimulation efficiency and expected outcome of CD34+ stem cells. The Beckman Coulter Cellular Analysis System DxH800 performs Flow Cytometric Digital Morphology analysis of leukocytes. All leukocyte cellular measurements can be reported as numerical values called Cell Population Data (CPD), which are able to detect morphological changes in the cell size and distribution of neutrophils. Our findings suggest that the changes in neutrophil CPD were detectable 2–4 days before the observed increase in CD34+ count in the peripheral blood and can potentially improve the management of patients. There was also a good correlation between MN-V-NE and ImmNeIndex with the CD34+ count suggesting they can be used as a surrogate for the CD34+ count (r = 0.67 and 0.65 p < 0.005 respectively).