Effect of Keratinocyte Growth Factor on Hospital Readmission and Regimen-Related Toxicities after Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Lymphoma

Regimen-related toxicities with high-dose therapy followed by hematopoietic cell rescue leads to considerable patient distress, morbidity, and high readmission rates. Palifermin is a recombinant keratinocyte growth factor that is Food and Drug Administration-approved to decrease severe oral mucositis (OM) associated with autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (ASCT) for hematologic malignancies. We added palifermin as a supportive care measure for patients with lymphoma undergoing ASCT with BEAM conditioning. We compared patients receiving palifermin (n = 35) with historical controls (n = 38) for toxicity and readmission outcomes. The cumulative incidence of OM of any grade was 23% in the palifermin-treated patients and 42% in the control group. Patients receiving palifermin were less likely to be readmitted (57% versus 82%; P = .04), had fewer hospital readmission days (median, 4 days versus 7 days; P < .01), and had fewer total days in the hospital through day +30 after ASCT (median, 12 days versus 15 days; P = .05). Fewer patients in the palifermin group had >20 days in the hospital through day +30 (9% in the palifermin group versus 23% of controls). Adverse events associated with palifermin were mild and transient. The addition of palifermin limits severe regimen-related toxicities and decreases readmissions and duration of hospital stay. This and other measures are needed to identify comprehensive and cost-effective approaches, possibly including palifermin, to prevent severe regimen-related toxicities and decrease health care resource utilization.