Effectiveness of single-dose 6 mg pegfilgrastim in mobilizing peripheral blood stem cells in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation donors.

A single injection of 12 mg pegfilgrastim was used to mobilize peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPCs) from healthy donors in some studies. The purpose of this study was to determine if 6 mg of pegfilgrastim was effective and safe for mobilizing CD34+ cells in donors for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. We conducted a retrospective case-matched design. A single dosage of 6 mg pegfilgrastim was used to mobilize PBPCs from 60 healthy donors. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF, 10 μg/kg) was administered daily to the matched donors. Leukapheresis was scheduled to commence on day 4 of the mobilization regimen. The median yielded CD34+ cell in the pegfilgrastim group was higher than those in the G-CSF group, at 5.06 × 106/kg recipient weight. The 73.3% of donors mobilized with pegfilgrastim yielded >4 × 106 cells/kg CD34+ cells in a single apheresis procedure when compared to the 33.3% of donors mobilized with G-CSF (P < 0.001). The myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) proportion in the pegfilgrastim group was significantly higher than that in the G-CSF group (P < 0.001). The cumulative incidence of grade II-IV acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) was higher in the G-CSF group than that in the pegfilgrastim group (26.7% vs. 11.7%), without statistical difference. In comparison to the G-CSF group, the pegfilgrastim group had a reduced median pain intensity numerical rating scale score (1 vs. 2). A single 6 mg dosage of pegfilgrastim is effective and safe for allogeneic PBPCs collection from healthy donors. Pegfilgrastim may decrease the incidence of aGVHD by boosting MDSCs, which need further investigation.