title: Use of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in children given allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for acute or chronic leukemia.
abstract: The role of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rHuG-CSF) in myeloid recovery of children given an allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT) from an HLA-identical sibling for acute leukemia was evaluated in a retrospectively historically controlled study, involving 20 consecutive treated patients and 30 historical controls. In order to investigate the efficacy of rHuG-CSF in patients given a matched unrelated BMT with methotrexate as part of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis, we also analyzed the kinetics of engraftment in eight further children with acute or chronic leukemia, transplanted using a volunteer donor. Patients were treated with 5 micrograms/kg/day of rHuG-CSF by 1-h intravenous infusion from day +5 until the absolute neutrophil count (ANC) was > or = 2 x 10(9)/l. No adverse effect related to treatment was observed in any patients. Children transplanted from an HLA-identical sibling and treated with rHuG-CSF reached an ANC count greater than 0.5 x 10(9)/l, 1 x 10(9)/l and of 2 x 10(9)/l in a significantly shorter time than the control group (day +9, +10 and +12, vs day +15, +22 and +29, respectively). An accelerated granulocyte production was also observed in patients receiving an unrelated transplant after a GVHD prophylaxis schedule including methotrexate, the median time to neutrophil recovery above 0.5 x 10(9)/l, 1 x 10(9)/l and 2 x 10(9)/l being +14, +15 and +17 days, respectively. In comparison to historical controls, all rHuG-CSF-treated patients had fewer days of fever, of antibiotic therapy and, only for children with HLA-compatible siblings, of hospitalization, whereas in the three groups the duration and severity of mucositis were comparable. No difference between the rHuG-CSF-treated patients and the historical controls given BMT from HLA-identical sibling was seen with regard to incidence of acute or chronic GVHD, relapse rate and actuarial event-free survival at day +100 and 1 year after transplantation. Our data suggest that in children given allogeneic BMT for acute or chronic leukemia, rHuG-CSF reduces duration of neutropenia, without increasing the rate of relapse or the incidence and severity of GVHD.
authors.affiliation: Clinica Pediatrica, Università di Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Locatelli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pession
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zecca
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bonetti
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Prete
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Carrà
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prete
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Montagna
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Comoli
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Taibi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Paolucci
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000209:etiology; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006410:Hematopoiesis / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007938:Leukemia / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor