Comparison of two dose levels of cyclophosphamide for successful stem cell mobilization in myeloma patients

Introduction Even in the era of proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs, the autologous stem cell transplantation after high-dose melphalan continues to represent a standard approach for myeloma patients in first-line therapy. Different mobilization chemotherapies before stem cell apheresis have been published while cyclophosphamide at a dose level of up to 4 g/m 2 has been evaluated and is commonly applied. In contrast, lower dose levels of cyclophosphamide (e.g., 1.5 g/m 2 ) did not result in a sufficient collection of stem cells. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the impact of “intermediate-dose” (ID-CY, 2.5 g/m 2 ) versus “high-dose” (HD-CY, 4 g/m 2 ) cyclophosphamide in 101 (48 vs. 53) consecutively evaluable myeloma patients (median age 59 years, range 32–72 years) who underwent stem cell mobilization after induction chemotherapy. Successful stem cell harvest was defined as a stem cell yield of at least 5 million CD34 cells per kg bodyweight. Evaluation of toxicity especially considered infectious complications and hematological toxicity in both subgroups. Results Successful stem cell mobilization was achieved in 40 of 48 (83 %) and 44 of 53 (83 %) patients, respectively. The median time to apheresis (11 vs. 12 days) and the median CD34 content of stem cell harvest (8.3 vs. 7.6 million CD34 cells per kg bodyweight) did not differ significantly between both groups. There was a significant difference of WBC nadir in favor of the cyclophosphamide regimen with 2.5 g/m 2 (0.8 vs. 0.3 Gpt/L, p = 0.021), and neutropenic fever was more often observed in patients who received 4 g/m 2 cyclophosphamide (34 vs. 15 %, p = 0.078). Importantly, after induction chemotherapy using the VCD regimen (bortezomib, cyclophosphamide, dexamethasone), successful stem cell mobilization was achieved in 26 of 29 (90 %) patients treated with 2.5 g/m 2 and 21 of 25 (84 %) patients receiving 4 g/m 2 cyclophosphamide, respectively. Conclusions ID-CY is safe and highly effective for stem cell mobilization in patients with newly diagnosed myeloma and associated with a reduced toxicity compared to HD-CY.