3. Adverse events and quality of life
The AEs observed during MC are shown in Table 3. Hematological toxicity
was the most frequent AE, occurring in 15 of 18 patients, and 7 of the
15 patients required blood transfusion. FN occurred in 6 patients who
developed grade 3–4 hematological toxicity. Other infections
(aspiration pneumonia and Herpes zoster ) were noted in 2
patients, respectively.
Fourteen patients received MC in outpatient settings, although they
required long-term hospitalization before MC due to severe
myelosuppression by cytotoxic chemotherapy. Six patients experienced AEs
requiring hospitalization, with a median stay of 13 days.
Furthermore, we compared the incidence of FN and the number of blood
transfusions in 9 patients with available detailed clinical records
during cytotoxic chemotherapy before MC. The number of transfusions
significantly decreased; median monthly incidence of transfusions were
0.83 during MC vs 0.0009 during chemotherapy before MC. Figure 4 shows
the monthly incidence of FN during cytotoxic chemotherapy and MC; all
patients, except for one, indicated an apparently decreased number of
episodes. In terms of QOL, 10 out of 18 patients were of school age, and
5 (50%) of them continuously went to school while receiving MC, except
while receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy. The remaining 8 patients were
preschoolers, and 3 of them (38%) went to kindergarten or nursery
school while receiving MC.