title: Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor treatment of leucopenia during fractionated radiotherapy.
abstract: 11 patients suffering from an isolated leucopenia during fractionated radiotherapy were treated with granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). 4 of the patients received radiotherapy alone, and 7 patients received concomitant chemotherapy. G-CSF treatment was initiated at the occurrence of leucopenia and maintained for the duration of radiotherapy. The applied daily dose was 5 micrograms/kg subcutaneously. 10 of the 11 treated patients reacted with an increased leucocyte count, from an average of 1342 leucocytes per microliter (+/- 502/microliters) to 24,568 leucocytes per microliter (+/- 950/microliters). Neutrophil counts increased on average from 64.9% (+/- 13.9%) to 91.1% (+/- 2.3%) (n = 7). In 1 patient thrombocytopenia occurred during the continued radiotherapy. 1 other patient reacted with an unexplained fall of leucocytes after two doses of G-CSF and one fraction of mediastinal irradiation. Side-effects observed during G-CSF treatment consisted of mild bone pain (1/11) and transient increases of serum alkaline phosphatase levels (4/11). Our observations indicate that G-CSF treatment is well tolerated during continuous fractionated radiotherapy. Therefore, we conclude that G-CSF can be used clinically to alleviate neutropenia caused by radiotherapy or by combined radio-chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, Eberhard-Karls Universität, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schmidberger
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Reuss-Borst
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bamberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D005260:Female; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count / Q000187:drug effects; D007970:Leukopenia / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D009504:Neutrophils; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor