Clinical evaluation of human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in chemotherapy for ovarian cancer

The clinical evaluation of human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in 38 patients treated with chemotherapy for ovarian cancer stage III was investigated among 3 groups. G-CSF was not given in group A (19 courses), was administered from day 5 of chemotherapy in group B (53 courses), and was given when the WBC count decreased to below 2,000/mm3 in group C (29 courses). The time to nadir was significantly shorter in group B compared with groups A and C and revealed 10 days for the WBC count and 11 days for the neutrophil count (p <0.01), with mean nadir values of 2,896/mm3 and 982/mm3 respectively, and so the count of WBC and neutrophil have been kept during the course. The effect of G-CSF was not modified by age, body weight or the number of chemotherapy courses in groups B and C. These results demonstrate that early treatment with G-CSF may allow increased intensity of chemotherapy by using greater doses or by shortening of the interval between cycles.