Clinical study for management of supportive treatment for high-dose chemotherapy with peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) for intractable testicular tumor

The side effects of high-dose anti-cancer drug chemotherapy with peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBCST) for the treatment of intractable testicular tumor are very serious. In particular, agranulocytosis in bone marrow suppression may be life threatening. In this study, we examined opportunistic infectious diseases and preventive counter measures in the compromised conditions of anti-cancer drug chemotherapy. The patients underwent anti-cancer drug chemotherapy with PBCST for the treatment of intractable testicular tumors at Kobe University Hospital from September 1996 to September 2002. The high-dose chemotherapy regimen consisted of total doses per course of 1,250 mg/m2 carboplatin, 1,500 mg/m2 etoposide, and 7,500 mg/m2 ifosfamide. Twenty-four men (median age, 30 years; range, 18-70 years) received 50 courses of chemotherapy in total. The nadir of peripheral leukocyte counts was less than 1,000/mm3 in all courses, and the mean period was for 7.1 days. None of these patients developed critical sepsis leading to disseminated intravascular coagulation or treatment-related death. Our detailed data show that we can perform high-dose anti-cancer drug chemotherapy with PBSCT for intractable testicular tumors without serious infectious complications if we take sufficient preventive countermeasures for infectious diseases.