Haematopoietic progenitor cell count (HPC)
What is HPC?
HPC enumerates haematopoietic progenitor cells in patients or stem cell donors receiving a cytokine regimen that will mobilise these cells from the bone marrow and increase their concentration in the peripheral blood. The measurement is conducted in an EDTA blood sample.
The HPC count has been shown to correlate well with CD34+ cells determined by flow cytometry during the stem cell mobilisation phase [1–6].
The HPC count is useful for decision-making in the management of patients subjected to apheresis procedures to collect peripheral blood stem cells.
Benefits
The clinical benefit for apheresis wards focuses on determining the time point to start apheresis by evaluating if enough haematopoietic progenitor cells have been mobilised.
A laboratory can benefit from measuring HPC, which is a standardised procedure without pre-analytical steps, by increasing efficiency and reducing costs due to fewer CD34 tests per patient.
As per guidelines, a minimum of one CD34 test per mobilisation cycle is required [7].
Reference ranges
Not applicable for this parameter.
How is HPC measured?
HPC is a diagnostic parameter that can be obtained from the white precursor and pathological cells (WPC) channel and is available on all Sysmex haematology analysers equipped with the WPC channel and an HPC licence.
The unique combination of reagents in the WPC channel and the physiological properties (membrane composition and chromatin accessibility) of the haematopoietic progenitor cells released into the peripheral blood allows their enumeration and differentiation from mature cells or abnormal blasts.
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White paper: Managing haematopoietic stem cell transplantation challengesPDF (549 KB)
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Clinical information card: Haematopoietic progenitor cell count (HPC) and advanced clinical parameters for managing HSCT clinical challengesPDF (342 KB)
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Laboratory information card: Supporting the apheresis ward with excellent lab servicePDF (216 KB)
References
[1] Tanosaki R et al. (2014): Novel and rapid enumeration method of peripheral blood stem cells using automated hematology analyzer. Int J Lab Hematol 36(5): 521–530.
[2] Peerschke EI et al. (2015): Evaluation of new automated hematopoietic progenitor cell analysis in the clinical management of peripheral blood stem cell collections. Transfusion 55(8): 2001–2009.
[3] Gromme M et al. (2017): Multicenter study to evaluate a new enumeration method for hematopoietic stem cell collection management. Transfusion 57(8): 1949–1955.
[4] Dima F et al. (2020): Assessment of haematopoietic progenitor cell counting with the Sysmex® XN-1000 to guide timing of apheresis of peripheral blood stem cells. Blood Transfus 18(1): 67–76.
[5] Furundarena JR et al. (2020): Evaluation of the predictive value of the hematopoietic progenitor cell count using an automated hematology analyzer for CD34+ stem cell mobilization and apheresis product yield. Int J Lab Hematol 42(2): 170–179.
[7] Lanza F et al. (2023): Overview on novel strategies and current guidelines for hematopoietic stem cell mobilisation and collection. Transfus Apher Sci 62(6): 103830.
