Effects of rhG-CSF (filgrastim) on the recovery of hematopoiesis after high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in children: a report from the Children's Cancer and Leukemia Study Group of Japan
Suzue, T.; Takaue, Y.; Watanabe, A.; Kawano, Y.; Watanabe, T.; Abe, T.; Kuroda, Y.; Matsushita, T.; Kikuta, A.; Iwai, A.
Experimental Hematology 22(12): 1197-1202
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0301-472X PMID: 7523170 Document Number: 438212
In a nonrandomized study, hematopoietic recovery kinetics were evaluated in 98 consecutive patients who underwent high-dose chemotherapy without total body irradiation (TBI) and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT). Fifty-three patients received recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) (filgrastim) therapy after PBSCT, and the data were compared by actuarial analysis to those of 45 historic controls. The number of days required to achieve a white blood cell count (WBC) of 1 times 10-9/L, an absolute granulocyte count (AGC) of 5 times 10-8/L, and a platelet count (PLT) of 5 times 10-10/L were, respectively, 12.8 +- 6.4 (mean +- standard deviation (SD)), 13.4 +- 6.4, and 49.2 +- 78.2 in treated patients vs. 12.8 +- 4.6, 14.4 +- 10.3, and 31.4 +- 38.8 days in historic controls, with no significant differences. There was no significant difference between the average number of days with fever in the treated group (6.0 +- 6.6) and that in the control group (4.0 +- 2.8). All febrile episodes responded promptly and successfully to parenteral antibiotic therapy. Thus, the data may suggest the possibility that therapy with filgrastim has only a limited ability to enhance hematopoietic recovery after PBSCT. To confirm this notion, we initiated a prospective randomized trial by recruiting a larger number of patients.