title: The implications of granulocyte-monocyte colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in cytotoxicity of bone marrow transplantation.
abstract: One of the major obstacles to the successful outcome of autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) is the high relapse rate, which is most likely due to the lack of a graft-versus-tumor effect. The amplification of cell-mediated effector mechanisms against residual tumor cells is one of the ways to reduce relapse rates post ABMT at the stage of minimal residual disease. Granulocyte-monocyte colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a key cytokine that plays a major role in cytotoxicity and in the activation pathways of monocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Therefore it may be used for manipulating the immune system to fight against cancer. The activities of GM-CSF on monocytes-macrophages, dendritic cells and recruited components of the immune system are described in the context of the development of improved strategies for conferring enhanced resistance to a tumor-bearing host following autologous or allogeneic bone marrow transplants.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Hemato-Oncology Department, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toren
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nagler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D014181:Transplantation Immunology
chemical_list: D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor