AUTOLOGOUS BLOOD STEM-CELL COLLECTION AFTER CHEMOTHERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH SENSITIVE AND REFRACTORY MALIGNANCIES - A MULTICENTER RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

A retrospective study was undertaken to assess the factors affecting t he yield of peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) collections after chemot herapy Fifty-five patients with malignancies, observed in 4 Italian In stitutions from January 1987 to June 1991 were eligible for evaluation . This series included 19 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, II multiple myeloma, 9 ovarian cancer, 7 Hodgkin disease, 7 acute non-lymphocytic leukemia, 1 acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 1 neuroblastoma. Five hundred and twen ty two PBSC collections were performed on 55 patients after a median o f 18 days after the start of chemotherapy. The yields of PBSC collecti ons were related to the dose of cytoreductive chemotherapy exploited f or PBSC mobilization and to the number of circulating white blood cell s, colony forming unit granulocyte/macrophage (CFU-GM) and the percent age of monocytes at the time of collection. Forty-eight patients out o f 55 transplanted (87%) had rapid, complete and sustained engraftment. Three patients (5%) died of transplant related complications.