In einer Phase-I/II-Studie wurde der therapeutische Effekt von rhGM-CSF bei Patienten mit myelodysplastischen Syndromen analysiert. 9 Patienten, für die keine anderen Therapiemöglichkeiten bestanden, erhielten rhGM-CSF in einer Dosierung von 15 μg/m² bis 150 μg/m² als 8stündige i.v.-Infusion für 7 Tage. Nach einem therapiefreien Intervall von 14 Tagen wurde der Therapiezyklus wiederholt. Dosisabhängig stiegen die Leukozyten bei 7 von 9 Patienten an, während die Throm-bozyten nur bei 1 Patienten anstiegen. Veränderungen der Retikulozyten wurden nicht beobachtet. rhGM-CSF wurde gut toleriert, Hauptnebenwirkungen waren leichte lokale Phlebitiden an der Infusions-stelle und Sternalschmerzen nach Bolusinjektion.

In a phase I/II study, 11 patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and severe transfusion-dependent cytopenia were treated with recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) to investigate the effects of rhGM-CSF on normal hematopoiesis and leukemic cells. The treatment schedule included dose escalation from 15 micrograms/m2 to 150 micrograms/m2 administered by continuous intravenous (IV) infusion for seven to 14 days and was repeated after a two-week treatment-free interval. The blood leukocyte counts increased dose dependently by 130% to 1,800% in ten patients; a rise of monocytes and eosinophils occurred in seven and six patients, respectively. No sustained increase in reticulocytes or platelets was observed. Lymphocyte counts increased in all patients affecting both T- helper and T-suppressor cells; however, the lymphocytes were not activated as analyzed by the expression of the interleukin-2 receptor. In four of the patients, all with greater than 14% blast cells in the bone marrow, the percentage of bone marrow blast cells increased during treatment with rhGM-CSF. Cytogenetic data indicated induction of both proliferation and differentiation of the leukemic clones by rhGM-CSF. Toxic side effects were minor with slight fever, phlebitis at the infusion site, and bone pain in the minority of patients. In conclusion, rhGM-CSF effectively stimulates hematopoiesis in vivo in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes. However, as the leukemic cell population can be stimulated in patients with a higher initial blast cell count, the combination of rhGM-CSF with other differentiation- inducing or cytotoxic agents has to be considered.

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Recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEpo), now available, might become increasingly more important for clinical use, e.g., in the treatment of anemia of chronic renal failure. As a prerequisite of clinical trials, we analyzed the stimulatory and suppressive effects of rhEpo on human hemopoiesis by adding rhEpo to in vitro cultures of nonadherent low-density bone marrow cells obtained from normal persons and from patients undergoing hemodialysis for chronic renal failure. rhEpo was shown to be an effective stimulus for erythroid and multilineage colony formation. The dose-response curve was similar for erythroid progenitors BFU-E from normal controls and patients with chronic renal failure. rhEpo had no effect on megakaryocytic colony formation nor on the megakaryocytic differentiation of multilineage stem cells. Because of a good stimulatory activity on erythroid and multilineage stem cells and lack of toxic effects, rhEpo might be useful in the treatment of certain kinds of anemia.