Correlation between peripheral blood automated hematopoietic progenitor cell counts and flow cytometric CD34+ cell counts differs according to diagnosis in patients undergoing autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation

Background An automated hematopoietic progenitor cell count measurement in Sysmex XN analyzer (XN‐HPC) has been developed to assist flow cytometry CD34+ cell count measurement, which requires technical expertise and a long turnaround time. Here, we evaluated the correlation between XN‐HPC count and flow cytometric CD34+ cell count in pre‐harvest peripheral blood (PB) samples from patients undergoing autologous peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplantation according to diagnosis and investigated the possible cause of the decreased correlation in plasma cell neoplasm patients. Materials and Methods We retrospectively included 399 patient data that had matched PB XN‐HPC count and CD34+ cell count of PB and apheresis product from Samsung Medical Center (SMC) and the Hematopoietic Stem Cell (HSC) registry. We assessed the diagnostic accuracy and the potential cutoff values of XN‐HPC count for predicting adequate PBSC collection. Results The PB XN‐HPC count was 1.6 and 1.3‐fold higher than the CD34+ cell count in SMC (25.0 vs 15.9/μl) and the HSC registry (20.0 vs 15.2/μl), respectively. Overall the correlation between the PB XN‐HPC and CD34+ cell count was moderate (SMC, r = 0.71; HSC registry, r = 0.66). A significant proportional and systemic bias with overestimation of XN‐HPC count were noted in the plasma cell neoplasm patients in both SMC and the HSC registry. However, no significant difference in correlation was observed according to myeloma‐related laboratory parameters in plasma cell neoplasm patients. Conclusion Our results suggest that XN‐HPC count should be interpreted cautiously in cancer patients undergoing autologous PBSC transplantation, especially in those with plasma cell neoplasm.