title: Assessment of the value of treatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a randomized clinical trial.
abstract: The present trial was designed to test the effects of G-CSF on the duration of the second phase of induction chemotherapy in children with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). A total of 32 patients were assigned randomly to a group that received (14 patients; group A) or a group that did not receive (18 patients; group B) G-CSF (10 g/kg/day subcutaneously and daily) throughout of the second phase of induction therapy. One of 14 (7.1%) patients in group A and 2 of 18 (11.1%) patients in group B completed the course of chemotherapy within the planned time. The median length of this phase was 37 days (range, 29 to 65; mean, 40; SD, 8.6) for patients in group A and 36 days (range, from 29 to 55; mean, 38; SD, 7.4) for those in group B, and the difference was not statistically significant. The number of days during which patients had granulocyte counts of less than 2 x 10(9)/l, the number of febrile episodes of unknown origin, the number of bacterial and fungal infections and the number of days of hospitalization did not differ in a statistically significant manner between the two groups. Our data suggest that G-CSF supportive therapy may be unnecessary in children with neutropenia of short duration, for whom the risk of infection is low.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, University of Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Dibenedetto
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ragusa
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ippolito
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lo Nigro
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Cataldo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: D'Amico
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Miraglia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001424:Bacterial Infections; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009503:Neutropenia; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D003561:Cytarabine; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor