A Pound of Cure Requires An Ounce (or More) of Prevention: Survivorship and Complications of Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies.

Patients treated for a hematologic malignancy are at risk for treatment-related complications. As the goal of therapy is frequently curative, treatments are especially intensive and long-term toxicity is common. Chemotherapy and radiation are associated with increased risk for cardiac and pulmonary disease, endocrine disorders, infertility, sexual dysfunction, second cancers, and psychosocial distress. The risk for each complication is dictated by patient characteristics including age, co-morbidities, and genetic predispositions, as well as the specifics of therapy. Survivors of pediatric cancers and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation have unique risks due to vulnerable age at time of toxic exposure and ongoing immune dysfunction, respectively.

Spontaneous subcapsular splenic hematoma associated with filgrastim in a patient undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

OBJECTIVE: To report the development of a spontaneous subcapsular splenic hematoma following filgrastim administration in a patient undergoing an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant. CASE SUMMARY: A 60-year-old female with myelodysplastic syndrome was admitted for a reduced-intensity allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor. She received filgrastim 5 µg/kg starting on day 1 to accelerate neutrophil recovery. On day 5, she began reporting severe left chest-wall pain. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography of the abdomen/pelvis revealed a spontaneous subcapsular splenic hematoma. Upon discontinuation of filgrastim, the pain fully resolved. The patient was subsequently rechallenged with filgrastim, which led to recurrence of the left-sided chest-wall pain. Filgrastim was discontinued and the patient reported resolution of the pain. DISCUSSION: Filgrastim has been associated with splenic hematoma and splenic rupture, predominantly in healthy donors undergoing mobilization of peripheral blood stem cells. Although splenic rupture attributed to filgrastim in a patient undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has been reported, to our knowledge, this is the first case report to establish causality. Using the Naranjo probability scale, an objective causality assessment revealed that the adverse drug event was highly probable. CONCLUSIONS: Although filgrastim-induced splenomegaly, splenic hematomas, and splenic rupture are rare, clinicians working in the bone marrow transplant setting should be cognizant of the potential of growth factors to cause these adverse events.