RESUMO
Early lymphocyte recovery (ELR) after autologous peripheral hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) is an independent predictor for survival in patients with hematological and non-hematological cancers. Sixty-five ASCT for hematological cancers were retrospectively analyzed to identify the factors associated with ELR and to assess the impact of different mobilization regimens on the pre-collection absolute lymphocyte count (ALC). The CD8+ lymphocyte dose in the autograft and the pre-mobilization ALC were independently associated with ELR (P < 0.001 and P = 0.008, respectively). CD8+ lymphocyte doses higher than 0.1 x 10(9)/kg were strongly associated with ELR [P < 0.001, odds ratio 25.22, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.98-127.69] and this cutoff may be used to predict ELR (P = 0.001, area under the curve 0.75, 95% CI 0.62-0.88). Mobilization with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) alone, the pre-collection ALC and the number of apheresis sessions were independently associated with the CD8+ lymphocyte dose (P = 0.04, P = 0.001, and P < 0.001, respectively). The number of aphereses was the variable with the strongest correlation to the CD8+ lymphocyte dose (r(s) = 0.68, P < 0.001). Median pre-mobilization ALC was higher than pre-collection ALC in the subgroup of patients without ELR mobilized with chemotherapy followed by G-CSF (1090 vs. 758 lymphocytes/microL; P < 0.001). This reduction was not significant in the subgroup with ELR mobilized with chemotherapy plus G-CSF (1920 vs. 1539/microL, respectively; P = 0.23). These results suggest that the CD8+ lymphocyte dose in the autograft is critical for ELR after ASCT and also demonstrates that mobilization with chemotherapy followed by G-CSF significantly decreases the pre-collection ALC, especially in patients with low pre-mobilization ALC.
