High-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) can achieve excellent clinical responses in patients with POEMS syndrome (Jimenez Zepeda et al., Blood 2010;116:2403; Gertz et al., Am J Hematol 2005;79:319-328; Gherardi et al., Ann Neurol 1994;35:501-505; Gattinoni et al., Nat Rev Immunol 2006;6:383-393; Salem et al., J Immunol 2009;182:2030-2040; Salem et al., Cancer Immunol Immunother 2010;59:341-353; Salem et al., Cell Immunol 2010;261:134-143). However, High-dose melphalan with ASCT should be considered carefully due to its treatment-related morbidity (Vuckovic et al., Blood 2003;101:2314-2317), especially in patients with poor performance status owing to polyneuropathy and multiorgan involvement, such as cardiac, respiratory, and renal failure. Significant increases in the concentration of circulating macrophage colony-stimulating factor, erythropoietin, IL-6, and TNF-α, reach near maximal values at approximately day +12, predating neutrophil engraftment, and clinically manifest with fever, rash and edema (Dispenzieri et al., Eur J Haematol 2008;80:397-406). Depending on the definition used, approximately 50% of patients satisfied criteria for engraftment syndrome (ES) (Vuckovic et al., Blood 2003;101:2314-2317). ES occurs in 27-47% of patients who undergo ASCT; mortality rate is reported from 8% to 18% (Gattinoni et al., Nat Rev Immunol 2006;6:383-393; Vuckovic et al., Blood 2003;101:2314-2317). We have therefore reviewed our experience with ASCT in patients with POEMS syndrome who were treated with cyclophosphamide and prednisone as induction therapy followed by cyclophosphamide mobilization with an emphasis on treatment-related morbidity and frequency of ES. Our study confirms that ASCT is a feasible and efficacious treatment for patients with POEMS syndrome. In addition, the use of CP followed by cyclophosphamide mobilization decreases the incidence of PES leading to less morbidity and mortality rates.
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