Filgrastim versus TBO-filgrastim to reduce the duration of neutropenia after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: TBO, or not TBO, that is the question

After a hospital-wide formulary change resulted in the replacement of filgrastim with TBO-filgrastim for all on- and off-label indications, we performed a retrospective comparison of patients with myeloma receiving 200 mg/m(2) melphalan with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to see whether the type of growth factor used post-transplant made a difference. One hundred and eighty-two consecutive patients with myeloma were studied, 91 receiving filgrastim immediately prior to the change and 91 receiving TBO-filgrastim afterward. The CD34(+) cell dose was comparable, as were other characteristics. Although the overall time to neutrophil recovery was similar for both groups, early engraftment (≤ 12 d) occurred more often (p = 0.05), and late engraftment (≥ 14 d) less often (p = 0.09) in filgrastim-treated patients. The number of documented infections was significantly less in the TBO-filgrastim group. Day 100 mortality and hospital stay were similar for the two groups. These data indicate that there is no material difference between filgrastim and TBO-filgrastim in this clinical setting.