peripheral blood stem cell collections

The blood is made up of many components including various types of cells and plasma. The word apheresis means, “to take away from”. Apheresis procedures involve processing a person’s blood through a cell separator to collect separate components, such as, blood cells or plasma or to remove portions of a patient’s blood as a therapeutic procedure.

Peripheral blood stem cell collections are performed using apheresis to collect the most immature blood components which are called blood stem cells or blood progenitor cells. These are immature cells that have the potential to grow and divide into mature red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets.

High dose chemotherapy suppresses the ability of the bone marrow to make blood cells and so peripheral blood progenitor cells are used to restore bone marrow function. Therefore, prior to treatment with high dose chemotherapy, a prescribed number of blood stem cells will be collected and stored frozen. You may be about to undergo this procedure for use of the cells within the next few months or for the purpose of storing your stem cells for potential future use in the longer-term .