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Updated: May 11, 2026
An Organotypic High Throughput System for Characterization of Drug Sensitivity of Primary Multiple Myeloma Cells
Published on: July 15, 2015
Statin use and peripheral blood progenitor cells mobilization in patients with multiple myeloma
A Stravodimou1, I A Voutsadakis
1Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Insights
Statins may improve the mobilization of hematopoietic stem cells in multiple myeloma patients undergoing chemotherapy. This could enhance progenitor cell rescue, offering a safer and more cost-effective treatment option.
Area of Science:
- Hematology
- Oncology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Statins are known to mobilize marrow endothelial progenitors after myocardial infarction.
- Mobilized hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells are crucial for high-dose chemotherapy with progenitor cell rescue.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of statins on mobilizing peripheral blood progenitor cells in multiple myeloma patients.
- To determine if statins enhance progenitor cell collection for autologous transplantation.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 86 multiple myeloma patients mobilized with G-CSF.
- Comparison of progenitor cell mobilization success rates between patients taking statins and those not taking statins.
Main Results:
- The success rate of achieving the target CD34+ cell count in the first leukapheresis was 85% in patients taking statins versus 63.6% in those not taking statins.
- This difference approached statistical significance, suggesting a potential benefit of statins.
Conclusions:
- Statins may offer a benefit in mobilizing peripheral blood progenitor cells for multiple myeloma patients.
- Further large-scale studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of statins in this context.
- If confirmed, statins could be a safe, cost-effective adjunct to current mobilization strategies.
Purpose:
Statins have beneficial effects in patients after myocardial infarction and at least part of the benefit results from mobilization of marrow endothelial progenitors to repopulate damaged myocardial tissues. This study examines if statins may have the same effect in mobilizing marrow progenitors to be harvested and subsequently used in high-dose chemotherapy with progenitor cell rescue in multiple myeloma.
Methods:
From 2006 to 2012, 86 patients with multiple myeloma were mobilized with the use of G-CSF and were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with other malignancies or mobilized with the use of chemotherapy or with plerixafor were excluded.
Results:
The median age of the patients was 60 years. 72 patients had received one line of chemotherapy and 14 patients two or more lines of chemotherapy. Twenty patients were taking statins at the time of the harvest while 66 patients were not. In the group of patients taking statins the success rate of first leukapheresis (obtaining the target number of 4 × 10(6) CD34+ cells/kg) was 85 % while in the group not taking statins this rate was 63.6 %. Despite the comparatively small number of patients this difference approached statistical significance (χ (2) = 0.07).
Conclusion:
This retrospective analysis of 86 patients shows for the first time a possible benefit of statins for peripheral blood progenitor cells mobilization in patients with multiple myeloma. Larger studies would be required to clarify the issue. If their effectiveness is confirmed, statins could be a safe and cheaper addition to chemotherapy and plerixafor for peripheral hematopoietic stem cell mobilization.
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