Primary Article

Comparison of Filtration Leukapheresis and Centrifugation Leukapheresis in Treatment of Lymphosarcoma Cell Leukemia

Authors: PHILIP C. AMREIN MD, JOAN R. KUMAR MD, RONALD F. POULIN MD, JOEL UMLAS MD, SIGMUND A. WEITZMAN MD

Abstract

A patient with lymphosarcoma cell leukemia resistant to chemotherapy was treated with filtration leukapheresis and centrifugation leukapheresis. Filtration leukapheresis removed only 10“ leukemia cells per 8.5 liters of blood processed, while centrifugation leukapheresis removed approximately six times as many leukemia cells from the same amount of blood. Lymph nodes and spleen diminished in size and the WBC count decreased after nine treatments. However, the patient remained markedly thrombocytopenic, and his bone marrow remained infiltrated with lymphosarcoma cells on repeat biopsy. This study shows that centrifugation leukapheresis is superior to filtration leukapheresis in removing significant numbers of circulating lymphosarcoma cells, though the clinical benefit of leukapheresis in this situation remains to be determined.

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