Glycosylated vs non-glycosylated granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)--results of a prospective randomised monocentre study.

The discovery of the haematopoietic growth factor granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) has reduced infection-related morbidity in cancer patients by alleviating post-chemotherapy neutropenia. Two formulations of recombinant human (rh) G-CSF, one glycosylated and one non-glycosylated, are available. The glycosylated form, lenograstim, possesses at least 25% greater bioactivity in vitro. Some comparative studies into the preparation's potential to mobilise haematopoietic stem cells suggest a similar advantage. In the light of the great clinical importance of G-CSF, we have performed the first prospective, randomised, crossover study on children with chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. G-CSF (250 microg/m(2)) was started 1 day after the chemotherapy block, and was administered until a WBC >1500/microl was achieved on 3 successive days. Thirty-three G-CSF cycles from 11 patients (16 lenograstim, 17 filgrastim) were studied. They were investigated for duration of very severe (WBC <500/microl, 9 vs 9.5 days, lenograstim vs filgrastim, median) and severe leukopenia (WBC <1000/microl, 11 vs 11 days), infections (CRP >5 mg/dl, 5 vs 5.5 days), infection-related hospital stay (11 vs 9 days) and antibiotic treatment (9 vs 9 days). Statistical evaluation by paired analysis could not detect any difference between treatment groups; the median difference for all end-points was zero. In summary, at least at 250 microg/m(2), in terms of their clinical effect on neutropenia, the two G-CSF preparations appear to have identical activity.

Coagulation and fibrinolysis in children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia treated according to the COALL-05-92-protocol.

The etiology of thrombo-embolic events after therapy with asparaginase (ASP) is not fully understood. To investigate if cytotoxic drugs given in combination with asparaginase (ASP) have an additional effect on the coagulation system, a detailed analysis of coagulation factors was performed. Therefore, we investigated two combinations of the COALL-05-92-protocol, [cylophosphamide]/methotrexate/ASP ([CYC]/MTX/ASP) and high dose arabinoside/ASP (HIDAC/ASP). In 33 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia the following parameters were determined: plasminogen-activator-inhibitor-1, plasminogen, antiplasmin, protein C, antithrombin, modified antithrombin, prothrombin-fragments 1 + 2 and thrombinantithrombin-complex. All children had an indwelling catheter. The most distinctive result of this investigation is that plasminogen shows a deeper and longer lasting decrease in the [CYC]/MTX/ASP-combination (median 65% NHP) compared to the HIDAC/ASP-combination (median 105% NHP) (p = 0.01). The other parameters showed the characteristic changes after ASP-therapy. None of our patients developed any clinical signs of thrombosis, even though two patients showed four altered coagulation parameters on the same day. This shows, that the coexistence of indwelling catheters plus four decreased coagulation parameters does not necessarily imply the development of thrombosis. We conclude that the parameters measured in this study do not sufficiently predict the development of thrombosis.