¹Department of Paediatrics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

²Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Correspondence to: Dr C K Li, Department of Paediatrics, Lady Pao Children's Cancer Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, China

The optimal dose and schedule of G-CSF for mobilization of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) is not well defined. G-CSF mobilization was performed in a group of healthy donors and paediatric patients for autologous back-up before receiving allogeneic stem cell transplant. Seventeen consecutive subjects who received G-CSF at 5 g/kg/dose twice daily (group A) were compared with a historical control group of 25 subjects who received a single daily dose of 10 g/kg/day G-CSF (group B). Double blood volume apheresis for PBSC collection was started on day 5. G-CSF was continued and apheresis repeated until the targeted CD34⁺ cell dose was achieved. Both groups were comparable for sex, age, body weight and reason for PBSC collection. Over two-thirds of the subjects in both groups were less than 16 years of age. The G-CSF priming and apheresis were well tolerated. When the first day apheresis products were analyzed, group A resulted in significantly higher yield of total nucleated cells (5.91 vs 3.92 ´ 10⁸/kg, P = 0.013), mononuclear cells (5.73 vs 3.92 ´ 10⁸/kg, P = 0.017), CD34⁺ cells (2.80 vs 1.69 ´ 10⁶/kg, P = 0.049) and colony-forming units (107 vs 54 ´ 10⁴/kg, P = 0.010) as compared with group B. We conclude that the two dose schedule is more efficient in mobilizing PBSC in normal donors and children with non-malignant diseases. This approach may reduce the number of aphereses required and thus reduce the transplant cost. Bone Marrow Transplantation (2000) 25, 931-935.

G-CSF; PBSC harvest; healthy donors; children