Effect of filgrastim administration for steady-state mobilization of peripheral blood stem cells

To obtain a better (optimal) schedule of peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) collection by steady-state granulocyte colony-stimulating factor administrations for autologous or allogeneic transplantations, we compared the effect of doses of filgrastim (8 microg/kg/day versus 16 microg/kg/day) for the steady-state mobilization of PBSCs. The effects of a filgrastim dose of 8 microg/kg/day were not significantly different from those of a dose of 16 microg/kg/day. In the group of patients receiving 8 microg/kg/day, the CD34+ cells over 3 x 10(6)/kg donor body weight were harvested in 3 patients who did not have a long history of receiving combination chemotherapy. The administration of 8 microg/kg filgrastim was adopted also for allogeneic PBSC mobilization for 24 healthy donors. All healthy donors donated an adequate number of PBSCs (CD34+ cells over 4 x 10(6)/kg of recipient body weight) and tolerated this mobilization well with no serious complications. In PBSC mobilization with healthy donors, the maximal yields of CD34+ cells from Day 4 to Day 6 were seen on the fifth day in most cases.