Clinical applications of the hematopoietic growth factors.
Hematopoiesis occurs in a microenvironment containing a variety of growth factors. Normal hematopoietic cells require these growth factors for viability, proliferation, and differentiation. The purification and molecular cloning of human growth factors has permitted a detailed analysis of hematopoiesis. Furthermore, the commercial production of growth factors resulted in their widespread introduction into clinical practice to limit chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. Recently, clinical trials of growth factors have expanded to test their direct anticancer effects, to improve the efficacy of chemotherapy by stimulating cell division, and to use them as biological modulators to inhibit tumor growth. This review focuses on a few clinical uses of recombinant growth factors.
Rowland
P
P
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Mirro
J
J
D000818:Animals; D016298:Hematopoietic Cell Growth Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use
D016298:Hematopoietic Cell Growth Factors; D011994:Recombinant Proteins