Can stored and harvested stem cells be used after CAR T-cell therapy? (https://www.myeloma.org/videos/can-stored-harvested-stem-cells-be-used-after-car-t-cell-therapy)
Stored and Harvested Stem Cells After CAR T-cell Therapy
In this week's Ask Dr. Durie, IMF Chief Scientific Officer and multiple myeloma expert Dr. Brian G.M. Durie addresses the question of whether stored and harvested stem cells can be utilized to enhance blood counts, especially following CAR T-cell therapy.
Dr. Durie discusses recent data presented at the 2024 European Hematology Association meeting from the Immune Therapy Registry, a project led by Dr. Thomas Martin at UCSF in San Francisco.
Data from the IMF’s Immune Therapy Registry suggests that administering stored stem cells to patients with low blood counts after CAR T-cell therapy can lead to significant improvements. Patients who received stored stem cells experienced a boost in hemoglobin levels, leading to red cell recovery. There was also an improvement in platelet counts and a reduced need for growth factors to stimulate white cell production. The findings indicate a strong benefit from using stored stem cells to aid in blood count recovery after CAR T-cell therapy. Patients with stored stem cells may want to discuss this option with their doctor to potentially improve blood counts after therapy.
The Bottom Line: The utilization of stored stem cells to boost blood counts, particularly following CAR T-cell therapy, shows promising results according to recent data. Patients with access to stored stem cells should consider discussing this option with their healthcare provider for potential benefits in blood count recovery.
This week's Ask Dr. Durie has an interesting question, which is, "Can one use stem cells which have been stored and harvested to boost blood counts?" And this is an important question, because with all of the available new immune therapies, sometimes low blood counts are quite a problem. And this is particularly the case after CAR T-cell therapy. And so, it's quite important that at the 2024 EHA meeting, data were presented linked to the Immune Therapy Registry, which is a new IMWU project based at UCSF in San Francisco, with Dr. Thomas Martin as the lead investigator. And so, one of the studies that Dr. Martin and his colleagues decided to look at is, if we take our stem cells and give them to patients who have low blood counts after T cell therapy, does it really help in the recovery of the blood counts? And the answer to that is a decisive yes.
The patients receiving stem cells did have a boost in the hemoglobin level, so it recovered red cells. An improvement in the platelet counts, and a reduction in the need for growth factors to try to stimulate white cell production. And so, really a strong benefit by administrating these stored stem cells from the freezer.
And so, bottom line, this is a very important question. Thank you for the question, for it leads to my ability now to inform people that this is something to be considered and something to talk to your doctor about. If you happen to have stem cells available, they can help to improve blood counts if they're low after CAR T-cell therapy, and possibly in other situations.
Dr. Brian G.M. Durie (1942-2025) was the co-founder of the IMF. He was a Professor of Medicine, Hematologist/Oncologist, and Honoree MD at the University of Brussels.