Low-dose cyclophosphamide and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor are sufficient for peripheral blood stem cell mobilization in patients with multiple myeloma.

Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), supported by high-dose chemotherapy, is the prevalent option for multiple myeloma (MM) treatment in candidates suitable for transplantation. Although granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) supported cyclophosphamide (CY) is used as the pre-ASCT mobilization regimen, there is no consensus on the optimal dosage of CY. Thus, in this study, we examined the results of 47 MM patients, who underwent ASCT after mobilization with intermediate (ID) or low-dose (LD) CY treatment supported with G-CSF. As the mobilization regimen, we used ID (2.4 g/m2) of CY in 22 patients, and LD (1 g/m2) of CY in 25 patients. Adequate doses of CD34+ cells were collected in both groups. At the same time, febrile neutropenia was observed to be less common in patients in the LD-CY group. Additionaly 96% of patients in LD-CY group did not need to be hospitalized during the mobilization. In conclusion, we think that mobilization with LD-CY and G-CSF is advantageous since it results in a sufficient amount of stem cells in addition to being advantageous in terms of patient safety and cost.

Autologous stem cell transplantation and stem cell mobilization kinetics in elderly patients with B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

As known, the world population is aging and as the life span increases the number of advanced-age lymphomas also shows an upward trend. Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the standard treatment modality in chemotherapy-sensitive relapsed or refractory aggressive lymphomas. Increased morbidity and mortality related to both the transplant itself and comorbid diseases can be observed in elderly lymphoma patients. Patients who are 65 years or older and underwent autologous HSCT with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma were retrospectively included in our study. In terms of survival analysis, median follow-up was 34.5 months (8-159) while the overall survival (OS) was 58%. In the univariate analysis of prognostic data in OS, patients who were referred to transplantation with complete response had a statistically significant survival advantage (p=0.043). In terms of the effect of pre-transplant conditioning regimens on survival, BEAM regimen yielded better results, though not statistically significant. Age, number of chemotherapy cycles received before mobilization and radiation therapy had no significant effect on the CD34 (+) cell count in the final product (p=0.492, 0.746 and 0.078 respectively). In conclusion, autologous HSCT is a practicable treatment modality that provides survival advantage in suitable advanced-age patients with a diagnosis of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.