Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for patients with malignancies: The tri-service general hospital experience

Background. High-dose chemotherapy/radiotherapy followed by autologous peripheral blood stem cells transplantation (APBSCT) can be used to treat chemosensitive malignant diseases. We retrospectively studied the APBSCT treatment efficacy and safety of patients at Tri-Service General Hospital (TSGH). Methods. From January 1994 to March 2000, 11 patients were treated with high doses of chemotherapy/radiotherapy followed by APBSCT. Nine patients were male and 2 were female. The median age was 26 years, with a range of 21 to 51. There were 7 acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 3 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and 1 ovarian cancer. All patients received both chemotherapy and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor to mobilize hematopoietic stem cells, and the most commonly used conditioning regimen was combined chemotherapy with Busulfan and Cyclophosphamide. Results. The median numbers of infused mononuclear and CD34+ cells were 3.19 × 10⁸/kg and 9.2 × 10⁶/kg, respectively. Nine of the 11 patients engrafted successfully, but 2 patients with AML failed to engraft. The median times of WBC recovery (ANC ≥ 500/uL) and platelet recovery (≥ 20 × 10³/uL) were 13 and 16 days, respectively. Four patients with AML survived after APBSCT and two of them were alive and disease-free for 36 and 51 months, respectively. One patient with AML and 3 patients with NHL died of relapse, and one patient with ovarian cancer was alive but with disease at 50 months. Conclusions. For patients with AML, APBSCT may be an alternative, safe and useful treatment modality. Further strategies for reducing relapse in lymphoma patients merit further investigation.