In a Japanese post hoc analysis, patients who received CD34-selected cells had greater improvement in FVC and higher long-term remission than patients who received non-CD34-selected stem cells.21 Furthermore, a recently published analysis of the EBMT registry for SSc patients undergoing autologous HSCT also revealed that HSCT with CD34-selection was associated with higher treatment response rate and did not increase infectious complication.7 This evidence concerns the gene CD34 and systemic sclerosis.