Factors influencing engraftment in autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation. The experience of a local Kuwaiti transplantation center

OBJECTIVE: To assess factors affecting engraftment among patients with lymphoproliferative disorders treated with high dose-chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.

METHODS: Fifty-four patients with lymphoproliferative disorders were treated from March 2000 to April 2006, at the Hamid Al-Essa Multiorgan Transplant Center, Kuwait. There were 37 males and 17 females, with a median age of 43 years (range 12-60). The cohort included 13 Hodgkin's lymphoma, 31 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and 10 multiple myeloma cases.

RESULTS: The median number of infused CD34+ cells was 1.7 x 106 per kg (0.38-15). The medians for absolute neutrophil count (ANC) and platelet (PLT) engraftment were 12 days (10-15) and 11 days (6-33). The CD34+ cell dose and timing of granulocyte-colony stimulating growth factor administration had no significant influence on ANC engraftment (p=0.3 and p=0.05).

CONCLUSION: The results imply that the CD34+ cell dose is the most important predictor of hematopoietic engraftment, namely PLT engraftment. The other factors studied had no clear influence on engraftment kinetics in this cohort.