Allogeneic marrow transplantation and the use of hematopoietic growth factors.

Three hematopoietic growth factors, recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and erythropoietin, which are commonly used in other clinical situations are being increasingly studied in the setting of allogeneic marrow transplantation. Major questions being addressed are: 1) can administration of growth factors post-transplant accelerate hematopoietic recovery, 2) are growth factors of use in the treatment of patients with poor graft function or graft failure, 3) can growth factor mobilized peripheral blood stem cells be used as a substitute for allogeneic marrow and 4) is there a role for the use of growth factors in the treatment of patients with specific types of infection post-transplant? This review will discuss where we are in answering these four questions.