[Clinical studies of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in elderly patients with malignant...

Recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) was given in combination with chemotherapy in elderly patients (greater than or equal to 65 years old) with malignant lymphoma, and the therapeutic efficacy and the incidence of side effects were determined. The subjects consisted of 5 males and 8 females with a median age of 74 years. One patient had Hodgkin's disease and 12 had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Regarding lymphoma stage, 2 were in stage II, 3 were in stage III, and 8 were in stage IV. The chemotherapy used was COP-BLAM in 8 patients, COP-BLAM III in 2, IMV-triple P in 2, and ACVP-16 in 1. Treatment with rhG-CSF (1.5 micrograms/kg/day) was commenced during or after the 2nd course of chemotherapy when the neutrophil count dropped to greater than or equal to 1,000/microliters, and was continued until the recovery of either the neutrophil or leukocyte count to 10,000/microliters or 20,000/microliters, respectively. The neutrophil nadir in the non-G-CSF group was 367.3 +/- 231.6/microliters. In the G-CSF group it was 754.6 +/- 116.4/microliters for the second course, with the difference between the 2 groups being significant (p less than or equal to 0.05). Also, the following time periods were significantly shorter in the G-CSF group than the non-G-CSF group: 1) the duration of a neutrophil count less than 1,000/microliters, 2) the duration of fever (greater than or equal to 37.5 degrees C), and 3) the time to recovery from the neutrophil nadir.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)