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 the yield of peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) collections after chemotherapy. Fifty-five patients with malignancies, observed in 4 Italian Institutions from January 1987 to June 1991 were eligible for evaluation. This series included 19 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 11 multiple myeloma, 9 ovarian cancer, 7 Hodgkin disease, 7 acute non-lymphocytic leukemia, 1 acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 1 neuroblastoma. Five hundred and twenty two PBSC collections were performed on 55 patients after a median of 18 days after the start of chemotherapy. The yields of PBSC collections were related to the dose of cytoreductive chemotherapy exploited for PBSC mobilization and to the number of circulating white blood cells, colony forming unit granulocyte/macrophage (CFU-GM) and the percentage of monocytes at the time of collection. Forty-eight patients out of 55 transplanted (87%) had rapid, complete and sustained engraftment. Three patients (5%) died of transplant related complications.