Factors affecting mobilization of CD34+ cells in normal donors treated with filgrastim

BACKGROUND: Multiple days of apheresis are required for some normal peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) donors, to ensure a sufficient collection of CD34+ cells for allografting. It would be of practical value to be able to identify the patients with poor mobilization on the basis of simple pretreatment clinical or hematologic variables. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Clinical characteristics and laboratory data for 119 normal PBPC donors who underwent apheresis on Days 4 to 6 of treatment with granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (filgrastim) were analyzed for correlations with CD34+ cell yield from the first day of apheresis. RESULTS: The CD34+ cell yield was significantly lower in donors who were more than 55 years of age, who underwent apheresis on Day 4 of filgrastim therapy, or who were not obese. There were weak direct correlations between CD34+ cell yield and the baseline white cell count, preapheresis white cell count, and preapheresis mononuclear cell count, and there was a weak inverse correlation with age. Twenty-one donors (18%) were considered to have poor mobilization (<20 x 10(6) CD34+ cells/L blood processed). In the multivariate analysis, the only significant factor was age greater than 55 years, which conferred a 3.8 times greater risk (95% CI, 1.1-13.7) of poor mobilization (p = 0.04). However, poor mobilization occurred in all age groups, so the predictive value of the model was low. CONCLUSION: Donor variables correlated with CD34+ cell yield only weakly, so no particular clinical characteristic can be used to exclude an individual as a PBPC donor if he or she is otherwise suitable for the apheresis procedure.