[Collection of circulating stem cells during remission after chemotherapy in acute leukemia].

The level of circulating myeloid progenitor cells (CFU-G), considered to be a good index of the quantity of circulating hemopoietic stem cells, was measured in the peripheral blood of 5 patients with acute leukemia as they entered first remission. High levels of circulating CFU-G were found in 4 of these 5 patients, depending on the intensity and the number of courses of induction chemotherapy. Repeated cytaphereses were done on 3 of these patients in order to collect and to cryopreserve circulating stem cells, to be used later for autologous transplantation. We propose a model which calculates the number of cytaphereses sufficient to obtain a level of 10(5) CFU-G/kg of weight, considered necessary to achieve a good hemopoietic reconstitution after transplantation.