title: The use of myeloid colony-stimulating factors in hematologic malignancies: the role of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
abstract: Myeloid colony-stimulating factors (M-CSFs), which include granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), regulate the proliferation and differentiation of myeloid cells. Their use has an important role in the treatment of hematologic malignancies. Guidelines for the use of colony stimulating factors have been published by the American Society of Oncology (ASCO) in 1996 and have been updated several times, most recently in 2006. Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials are regarded as the highest grade of evidence in clinical research and as such, compared to individual studies, they have more power in answering unresolved clinical issues. In this review, our aim is to evaluate the role of M-CSFs in hematologic malignancies based on meta-analyses conducted in the field.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hematology, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Petah-Tikva, Tel-Aviv University, Israel. ronitg@clalit.org.il
authors.forename: Ronit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gurion
authors.forename: Adi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shacham-Abulafia
authors.forename: Ofer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Shpilberg
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Raanani
mesh_terms: D003115:Colony-Stimulating Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D012196:Review Literature as Topic
chemical_list: D003115:Colony-Stimulating Factors