Chemomobilization with high‐dose etoposide and G‐CSF results in effective and safe stem cell collection in heavily pretreated lymphoma patients: report from a single institution study and review

The optimal mobilization strategy prior to autologous stem cell transplantation (auto‐SCT) for patients with lymphoma is yet to be determined. We reviewed our institutional experience using chemomobilization with high‐dose (HD) etoposide (1.6 g/m²) and G‐CSF (300 μg/day) in 79 patients with lymphoma. The majority (76%) had received at least two prior regimens of chemotherapy, and 12 (15.2%) patients had previously failed to mobilize following HD cyclophosphamide or DHAP or ICE with G‐CSF. HD etoposide and G‐CSF chemomobilization resulted in successful collection (>2 × 10⁶ CD34+ cells/kg) in 82.3% of patients within a median 2 (1–6) apheresis days. Patients had stem cells collected between days +8 and +15, with a median +12 day. Median total CD34+ cells/kg collected was 5.95 × 10⁶ (0.1–36.8). Seventy‐one percent of patients yielded >2 × 10⁶ CD34+ cells/kg in ≤2 d of apheresis and were defined as good mobilizers. While median CD34+ cells/kg collected for good mobilizers was 7.6 × 10⁶, it was 2.6 × 10⁶ for poor mobilizers (P < 0.001). This regimen was safe with a low rate of febrile neutropenia (7.6%) and acceptable rates of RBC (40.5%) and platelet transfusions (22.8%). Hematopoietic recovery after auto‐SCT was achieved on expected time. Therapy‐related myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia occurred in only one patient (1.3%) with in a median follow‐up of 16 months after chemomobilization. We conclude that HD etoposide and G‐CSF chemomobilization appear to result in effective, tolerable, and safe stem cell collection in the majority of heavily pretreated lymphoma patients.