1. ¹Division of Hematology and Hematology Laboratory, Kantonsspital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
2. ²Department of Hematology/Oncology, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey
3. ³Department of Hematology, Ospedale San Martino, Genoa, Italy
4. ⁴Department of Medicine, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
5. ⁵Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel
6. ⁶Department of Hematology, Hôpital St Louis, Paris, France
7. ⁷Department of Haematology, Nottingham City Hospital, Nottingham, UK
8. ⁸Department of Haematology, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK
9. ⁹Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
10. ¹⁰Blood and Marrow Transplantation Services, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, Australia
11. ¹¹Hematologie Adultes, Hôpital Necker, Paris, France
12. ¹²Amgen Ltd., Cambridge, UK
13. ¹³Department of Hematology, AK St Georg, Hamburg, Germany

Correspondence: Dr G Favre, Division of Hematology, Kantonsspital Basel, CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland. E-mail: gfavre@uhbs.ch

Received 12 February 2003; Accepted 10 June 2003.

Abstract

We report graft product stem cell yields and donor safety results of a randomized multicenter study comparing allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) PBSC transplantation with BM transplantation. Matched HLA-identical sibling donors (n=329) were randomized to filgrastim-mobilized PBSC or bone marrow (BM) donation groups. Median yields per kg recipient weight of CD34⁺ cells, T cells, and natural killer (NK) cells, respectively, were approximately two-fold, eight-fold, and greater than eight-fold in the PBSC group than in the BM group (CD34⁺ cells, 5.8 10⁶/kg vs 2.7 10⁶/kg; T cells, 300.1 10⁶/kg vs 35.7 10⁶/kg; NK cells, 28.2 10⁶/kg vs 3.6 10⁶/kg; P<0.001 for each). In connection with the cell collection procedures, PBSC donors spent a shorter median time in hospital than BM donors (0 vs 2 days; median difference -2 days, 95% CI -2 to 2) and had fewer median days of restricted activity (2 vs 6 days; median difference -3 days, 95% CI -4 to 2). Overall, 65% of PBSC donors and 57% of BM donors reported at least one adverse event (AE), most of which were transient, mild–moderate in severity, and without clinical sequelae. PBSC donors experienced predominantly filgrastim-related AEs, while BM donors experienced predominantly harvest-related AEs.