Clinical Application of Growth Factors for Collection of Circulating Hematopoietic Progenitors in Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Highdose Cyclophosphamide

Abstract

Seventy-seven (68 operable breast cancer with > 9 metastatic axillary nodes and 9 inflammatory breast cancer) entered this study. During hematopoietic recovery after cancer therapy with highdose cyclophosphamide (7 g/m2; HD-CTX) circulating hematopoietic progenitors were collected by leukapheresis (LK) in all patients and then cryopreserved for autologous transplantation. Following HD-CTX, 70 patients were treated with hematopoietic growth factor(s) for 14 days: 38 with rhGM-CSF (group a), 16 with rhlL-3 (group b), 11 with sequential rhlL-3 and rhGM-CSF (group c), 5 with sequential rhlL-3 and rhG-CSF (group d). Seven control patients (group e) did not receive any growth factor.

Leukaphereses, carried out over 2-4 consecutive days per patient, were started earlier in group c and in group d patients (mean day: +12 after HD-CTX). The sequential administration of rhIL-3 and rhG-CSF (group d) resulted in clearly higher yield of CFU-GM and CD34+ cells per leukapheresis (65.9x10⁴/Kg versus 20.9x10⁶/Kg, respectively) if compared with other groups of treatment.