Leukemia & lymphoma
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Leukemia & lymphoma · May 2000
Comparative StudyImpact of chemotherapy on the mobilisation, harvest and economic costs of autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation in patients with multiple myeloma.
To evaluate factors affecting mobilisation and harvest and to calculate the economic costs of autologous stem cell transplantation in multiple myeloma (MM) we analysed 29 consecutive patients who had been transplanted at the Nijmegen University Hospital between January 1992 and February 1999. Thirteen patients had been treated with three or more melphalan cycles before transplantation (melphalan group), while four of the remaining 16 patients (no-melphalan group) had only received one melphalan cycle with an interval of one year or longer before harvest. The two groups were analysed for differences in mobilisation, harvest and the costs. ⋯ This resulted in significantly higher overall costs. More cycles of chemotherapy without melphalan did not increase significantly any studied parameter nor the total costs of procedure. Melphalan therapy or heavy pre-treatment did not prolong the repopulation interval, probably due to the infusion of similar number of progenitor cells.