Changes in Human Bone Marrow Colony-Forming Cells following Chemotherapy Using an Agar Diffusion-Chamber Technique

Abstract

Many of the cytotoxic drugs used in cancer chemotherapy damage cells throughout the hemopoietic system, which results in neutropenia and thrombocytopenia with the associated problems of infection and hemorrhage. These symptoms are in large part attributable to depletion of the early precursor cells in the bone marrow, the descendents of which ultimately replenish the peripheral blood supply. However, in addition to the numbers of surviving progenitor cells, their proliferation rate is also an important factor, because upon this will depend their rate of recovery and, for many drugs, their response to further doses of chemotherapy. It is therefore important to measure changes in these two variables in order to predict with more confidence the optimum timing for treatment.