At home management of aplastic phase following high-dose chemotherapy with stem-cell rescue for hematological and non-hematological malignancies.

BACKGROUND: After high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem-cell support long hospital stays in the aplastic phase are expensive, lead to increased risk of hospital infections and to increasing pressure on available hospital beds. We developed a home care regimen that allows patients to be at home for most of the aplastic period, without daily hospital visits.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between October 1995 and December 1997, transfer of supportive care to the home setting took place in three phases for patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy with stem-cell transplant for malignant lymphoma (one course of BEAM), breast cancer or germ-cell cancer (three courses of tCTC). In the inpatient cohort, the supportive care designed for at home use was administered in the hospital until neutrophile recovery to 0.5 x 10(9)/l. In the second, outpatient cohort, patients were discharged the day after stem-cell reinfusion but the supportive care was delivered daily in hospital. The third, home care cohort, consisted of patients who were discharged the day after stemcell reinfusion, after which specialized home care professionals delivered all supportive care including transfusions and parenteral antibiotics at home, with once weekly check-up in hospital by the transplant physician.

RESULTS: Forty-two patients were treated with 81 cycles of high-dose chemotherapy (11, 18 and 13 patients and 17, 40 and 24 courses in the inpatient, outpatient and home care cohorts respectively). Inpatients were hospitalized in the aplastic phase for a median of 14 days. Patients in the outpatient cohort were at home in the aplastic phase for a median of six days (with a median of six days in hospital), and in the home care cohort for a median of 10 days (with a median of 1.5 days in hospital). Unscheduled readmissions and hospital visits were frequent in the outpatient and home care cohorts, mostly due to fever, central indwelling catheter malfunctioning or chemotherapy-related toxicity. However, patients could usually be discharged again after observation and treatment. No infectious deaths or unexpected emergencies occurred in the outpatient or home care cohort. Neither was there any suggestion of an increased number of fevers, infections, or other complications.

CONCLUSIONS: At home management in the aplastic phase after high-dose chemotherapy and stemcell transplant by community-based professionals is feasible without signs of increased toxicity or infections.