[The role of hematopoietic growth factors in the regulation of normal and pathological hematopoiesis].

Normal hematopoiesis is regulated by a family of hematopoietic growth factors that mediate the proliferation and maturation of blood cell precursors and pluripotential stem cells. Several of these factors have been isolated, biochemically characterized and are now being produced by recombinant DNA techniques in quantities sufficient for preclinical studies and clinical use. Three factors in particular have recently received considerable attention for their potential clinical use: granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and Multi-CSF or Interleukin 3 (IL-3). G-CSF is apparently lineage-specific for the proliferation of and differentiation of neutrophil granulocyte precursors. GM-CSF and IL-3 are less restricted in their action, affecting various lineages, such as eosinophil granulocytes, neutrophil granulocytes, monocytes, erythrocytes and megakaryocytes. The CSFs have many potential clinical applications including enhancing granulocyte production and function in neutropenic patients and rendering myeloid leukemic cells more susceptible to killing by cycle-specific agents.