Pegfilgrastim in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Pegylation implies progress in filgrastim therapy. The addition of one molecule of polyethylene glycol (PEG) increases the drug's half-life by reducing renal excretion. A single dose of pegfilgrastim is equivalent to a daily administration of G-CSF for recovering from neutropenia after cancer chemotherapy. Pegfilgrastim is also useful to mobilize hematopoietic stem cells. Several studies have researched its efficacy in this context, in patients with myeloma or lymphoma. Outcomes suggest that it has an efficacy similar to daily G-CSF. In allogeneic donors, a single 12-mg dose of pegfilgrastim produces sufficient increase of CD34+ in peripheral blood, with acceptable toxicity. There is interest on the data about the various functional and biologic properties of hematopoietic stem cells mobilized with pegfilgrastim compared to G-CSF, and on the effect that these differences may have on the graft composition. The administration of a single dose of pegfilgrastim after autologous transplantation has been shown to shorten the time for leukocyte recovery in a manner similar to G-CSF