[Clinical application of hematopoietic growth factor (IL-3, G-CSF, GM-CSF, and EPO)].

Hematopoietic growth factors were found as factors stimulating hematopoietic colony formation in in vitro culture system using bone marrow cells as a source of hematopoietic progenitor cells. Erythropoietin, a growth factor stimulating erythroid lineage has now been clinically used as an therapeutic agent for anemia of chronic renal failure. Macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), a growth factor stimulating the production of leukocytes including monocytes and neutrophils has been clinically used as an agent for leukopenic patients after anti-cancer therapy. M-CSF improves a survival rate after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) through the reduction of mortality rate associated with BMT such as bleeding, engraftment failure and GVHD. M-CSF accelerated platelet production when injected to thrombopenic patients with solid tumor after anticancer therapy. Granulocyte CSF (G-CSF) is a most powerful agent for various kinds of neutropenia such as neutropenia after anti cancer therapy, neutropenia after BMT, aplastic anemia, chronic neutropenia of children and myelodysplastic syndrome. However, since G-CSF stimulates growth of leukemic cells in vitro, careful observations should be required when clinically used on leukemic patients. Clinical studies of granulocyte-macrophage CSF (GM-CSF) and interleukin 3 (IL-3) are now in progress, in which a promoting activity of leukocyte production of these factors is evaluated.