Outpatient high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem-cell rescue for hematologic and nonhematologic malignancies

A prospective study to determine the feasibility of high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) and autologous stem-cell rescue (ASCR) in the outpatient setting.

One hundred thirteen consecutive patients underwent 165 cycles of HDC/ASCR for a variety of malignancies. HDC regimens were disease-specific. Initially, patients were hospitalized for HDC, discharged on completion, and maintained as outpatients unless toxicities required rehospitalization (subtotal outpatient transplantation [STOT]). Once this was established as safe, a total outpatient transplant (TOT) program was developed in which patients received all of the HDC, as well as supportive care, as outpatients. Patients who declined the outpatient programs received the same HDC and supportive care as inpatients.

In 140 of 165 (85%) HDC cycles, patients agreed to participate in one of the outpatient transplant programs. Five patients in the STOT program could not be discharged from the hospital because of toxicities that developed during HDC; thus, 135 patients were monitored the outpatient setting, 95 (70%) of whom were never readmitted. The mean +/- SEM total hospital length of stay (LOS), including all readmissions and excess days after chemotherapy, was 18.33 +/- 5.06 days for patients who refused the outpatient program, 8.22 +/- 5.76 days for patients in the STOT program, and 2.81 +/- 7.66 days for those in the TOT program (P < .001). One treatment-related death occurred in each treatment setting: day 120 inpatient, day 17 STOT, and day 110 TOT.

Outpatient management of HDC/ASCR is safe and acceptable for the vast majority of patients. The STOT program resulted in significant reduction in hospital LOS, while the TOT program appears equally safe and further reduces LOS. Hospitalization for HDC/ASCR is unnecessary in most patients.