Post-Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Care in the “Home Sweet Home” Setting: A Treatment Paradigm Shift

Background:
Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common hematologic malignancy, with 34,470 estimated new cases in 2022. High-dose therapy followed by autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (auto-HCT) remains a standard treatment for MM even in the era of novel therapies. This is usually performed in hospital-based settings, either in the inpatient or outpatient units. Advanced Care at Home (ACH) represents a virtual hybrid hospital-at-home program that combines a virtual provider-staffed command center with a vendor-mediated supply chain capable of delivering high-acuity care in the comfort of the patients’ own homes. In our program, we used the existing ACH platform to deliver post-HCT care for recipients of auto-HCT.


Patients and methods:
Four patients (female = 2, 50%) with MM, with a median age of 60 (range, 40–74) years, were admitted to the inpatient Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) unit. The conditioning regimen consisted of melphalan 200 mg/m2, administered on day –2. All patients received stem cell infusion (day 0) in the inpatient setting, with a median dose of 3.64 (range, 2.92–8.22) × 106/kg CD34 cells.


Results:
Patients were discharged to their homes after completing the infusion on day 0 or day +1 at the latest. Postinfusion care was provided by the ACH team in coordination with the BMT team. The median time intervals to absolute neutrophil count and platelet engraftment were 12 (range, 11–13) and 11 (range, 9–16) days, respectively. All patients were successfully discharged from the ACH program at a median of day +14 (range, day +14 to day +15).


Conclusions:
Our results highlight the feasibility of delivering post-HCT care for auto-HCT recipients in the home setting and confirm the generalizability of this approach.