Background and objectives: We prospectively evaluated the infusion-related toxicity of autologous peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) in 215 patients with haematologic malignancies or solid tumours.
Materials and methods: PBPCs were collected by apheresis after mobilization with chemotherapy and/or granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). The grafts were cryopreserved in 10% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and stored in liquid nitrogen. Patients were monitored for vital signs and symptoms of the toxicity during and after infusion.
Results: The adverse reactions were reported during 149 (56.9%) infusions. During 21.0% infusions occurred just one symptom classified as grade 1, while during 35.9% occurred multiple symptoms classified as grade 2. Logistic regression analysis showed that female gender, diagnosis of multiple myeloma and number of granulocytes infused per kg body weight were significant predictors of occurrence of adverse reactions during infusion.
Conclusion: Our results indicate that beside the infused DMSO dose, the composition of graft as well as patient's diagnosis are also very important factors for infusion-related toxicity.