University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY U.S.A.
Hemopoietic growth factors are peptide hormones that have dramatically altered the management of patients with cytopenias. These cytokines have added a new dimension to dose-intensive marrow-suppressive treatment regimens, with the potential that has yet to be fully realized.
While the major therapeutic benefit relates to the potential of these cytokines to ameliorate cytopenias, the possibility of altering the phase specificity of cycling cells is an exciting new therapeutic option that in being intensively studied for its therapeutic potential in the treatment of malignant disorders. The common clinical entities in whom the use of hemopoietic growth factors has been established, or at least appears to have significant clinical potential will be fully discussed. Emphasis will be placed on the results of clinical trials in acute leukemia, myelodysplasia, aplastic anemia, hypoproliferative anemia, bone marrow transplantation as well as other selected uses for hemopoietic growth factors.
Although the development of new cytokines is occuring rapidly, the majority of published phase I, II and III clinical trials involve erythropoietin, GM-CSF and G-CSF and the discussion will be mostly confined to clinical data for those cytokines.
Clinical use of hemopoietic growth factors
