Differences in transplant-related complications between hematologic malignancies and solid tumors receiving high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.
Multiple factors contribute to transplant-related complications after high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation, including conditioning regimens, number of infused stem cells and clinical characteristics of patient at transplant. We compared the transplant-related complications of 141 patients affected with hematological malignancies with those of 109 patients with solid tumors. The total number of peripheral blood stem cell transplantations performed was 339. High-dose chemotherapy mainly consisted of melphalan-, busulphan- or thiotepa-based regimens. Despite the equal number of infused CD34+ cells, patients with a hematological malignancy showed a slower absolute neutrophil count (days to neutrophils > 0.5 x 10(9)/L, 10.6 +/- 3.6 for hematological malignancies versus 9.1 +/- 1.2 for solid tumors, P < 0.0001) and platelet recovery (days to platelets > 20 x 10(9)/L, 16.4 +/- 9.8 for hematological malignancies versus 12.3 +/- 4.1 for solid tumors, P < 0.0001) than patients with a solid tumor. A significantly higher requirement of red blood cell (3.3 +/- 4.1 versus 2.0 +/- 1.9, P < 0.0029) and platelet units (7.5 +/- 10.4 versus 4.2 +/- 3.4, P < 0.0001) was observed for hematological malignancies than for solid tumors. Five graft failures were documented exclusively in patients with a hematological malignancy. Moreover, such patients displayed a longer duration of mucositis (P < 0.0028) and hospital stay (P < 0.0001), but no difference was observed in terms of febrile episodes. Transplant-related mortality was similar between the two groups. In conclusion, patients with a hematological malignancy overall have more complications than those with a solid tumor.
Martino
Massimo
M
Centro Trapianti Midollo Osseo A Neri, Azienda Ospedaliera Bianchi-Melacrino-Morelli, Reggio Calabria, Italy. massimartino@tin.it
Morabito
Fortunato
F
Console
Giuseppe
G
Irrera
Giuseppe
G
Messina
Giuseppe
G
Pucci
Giulia
G
Nardi
Mario
M
Nobile
Francesco
F
Molica
Stefano
S
Cicero
Giovanni
G
Palazzo
Salvatore
S
Peta
Antonio
A
Musolino
Caterina
C
Iacopino
Pasquale
P
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D019172:Transplantation Conditioning; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous