A dedicated flow cytometry stem cell enumeration kit is aimed at the rapidly growing stem cell transplantation market.

High-dose chemotherapy (HDC) with transplant is now standard therapy in multiple myeloma, acute myeloid leukemia in first remission, and intermediate-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Stem cell transplantation with cell selection is performed after HDC in an effort to restore a cancer patient’s blood and immune cell production capacity, which is destroyed in this aggressive form of cancer treatment. Improvements in transplantation techniques, including the wider use of cell selection, have also contributed to a significant reduction in the morbidity and mortality associated with conventional transplantation. As a result, HDC with transplantation has grown at an average annual rate of 21% over the past 10 years.

To aid clinicians and researchers working in the stem cell transplantation field BD Biosciences (Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA) has introduced their BD Stem Cell Enumeration (SCE) Kit for use on the BD FACSCanto II and BD FACSCalibur flow cytometers.

The SCE Kit is for in vitro diagnostic use and provides a single-tube, single-platform assay for accurate, reproducible, and rapid enumeration of CD34+ hematopoietic and progenitor cells in a wide range of stem cell sources. Sample types that may be analyzed with the SCE Kit include normal and mobilized peripheral blood, material from fresh or frozen leukophoresis, bone marrow, and cord blood.

The BD SCE assay allows simultaneous enumeration of total viable dual-positive CD45+/CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells in absolute counts of CD34+ cells/microliter and the percentage of viable leucocytes (CD45+) that are CD34-positive (CD34+). A set of premixed antibodies reduces reagent preparation time to meet productivity demands of clinical labs. In addition, the SCE assay incorporates BD’s proprietary Trucount tubes, which allow determination of absolute cell count, thereby eliminating variability associated with hematology-derived absolute counts.

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