Peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) Collection and Cryopreservation

Features

Peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) Collection and Cryopreservation

Peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) collection is a medical procedure used to collect stem cells from a patient's bloodstream. Stem cells are important because they have the ability to develop into many different types of cells in the body and can be used to treat a wide range of diseases.

PBSC collection is often used in bone marrow transplants as an alternative to collecting stem cells from the bone marrow itself. The collection process involves the use of a machine called apheresis, which separates the stem cells from the rest of the blood. PBSCs are collected by leukapheresis from autologous (patients) or allogeneic (healthy volunteer) donors.

Procedure

Before the collection, the patient is given medication to increase the number of stem cells in their bloodstream. This medication is usually given over several days and is called "mobilization." The mobilization could be achieved by chemotherapy or G-CSF-only regimen. Once the stem cells have been mobilized, the patient is connected to the apheresis machine, which draws blood from the body and separates the stem cells from the rest of the blood using a special filter.

The blood is returned to the patient's body, and the stem cells are collected in a bag. This process may take several hours to complete, and multiple collections may be necessary to collect enough stem cells for a transplant.

After the collection, the PBSCs are frozen by computer-controlled cryopreservation for long-term storage with minimal damage to the cells. The cells are cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen and stored until for future use for an autologous or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Notification

In general, apheresis is a relatively safe procedure and is well-tolerated by most of the donors. Although patients may experience some temporary side effects, such as headache, fatigue, or muscle cramps. The most common complication is caused by citrate-induced hypocalcemia. It is easy to be prevented or relieved by calcium supplementation.

Estimated Cost

The procedure cost：

PBSC Collection：83,820 NTD per person (3 collection cycles) .

PBSC Cryopreservation：130,232 NTD per person (Storage 1-3 month)

PBSC Cryopreservation：192,456 NTD per person (Storage 3-6 month)

Prices are subject to change without prior notice, and need to pay in accordance with the actual medical expense