title: Granulocyte transfusions in children and adults with hematological malignancies: benefits and controversies.
abstract: Bacterial and fungal infections continue to pose a major clinical challenge in patients with prolonged severe neutropenia after chemotherapy or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). With the advent of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) to mobilize neutrophils in healthy donors, granulocyte transfusions have been broadly used to prevent and/or treat life-threatening infections in patients with severe febrile neutropenia and/or neutrophil dysfunction. Although the results of randomized controlled trials are inconclusive, there are suggestions from pilot and retrospective studies that granulocyte transfusions may benefit selected categories of patients. We will critically appraise the evidence related to the use of therapeutic granulocyte transfusions in children and adults, highlighting current controversies in the field and discussing complementary approaches to modulate phagocyte function in the host.
authors.affiliation: Division of Translational Medicine, Clinical Research Center, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Out-Patient Clinic, Al Luqta Street, Education City North Campus, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar. ccugno@sidra.org.|Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy. ccugno@sidra.org.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cugno
authors.affiliation: Division of Translational Medicine, Clinical Research Center, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Out-Patient Clinic, Al Luqta Street, Education City North Campus, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar. sdeola@sidra.org.|Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Ospedale Centrale Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy. sdeola@sidra.org.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deola
authors.affiliation: Deep Immunophenotyping Core, Division of Translational Medicine, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar. pfiippini@sidra.org.
authors.forename: Perla
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Filippini
authors.affiliation: Cell Processing Section, Department of Transfusion Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA. DStroncek@cc.nih.gov.
authors.forename: David F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Stroncek
authors.affiliation: Division of Translational Medicine, Clinical Research Center, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Out-Patient Clinic, Al Luqta Street, Education City North Campus, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar. srutella@sidra.org.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rutella
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016913:Blood Component Transfusion; D002648:Child; D016207:Cytokines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines