The effects of short-term use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor on bone metabolism in child cancer patients

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is the most commonly used hematopoietic growth factorrecombinant DNA technology. It affects bone metabolism by modulating both osteoclast and osteoblast functions. The aimof the present study was to investigate the effects of short-term use of G-CSF on bone metabolism in children with leukemiaand solid tumors.METHODS: Thirty-six patients with a malignancy who received G-CSF therapy according to chemotherapy protocols and another20 growth factor-free cancer patients who were enrolled as controls were included in the study. The serum osteocalcinand urinary free deoxypyridinoline levels were measured before the start of G-CSF therapy, on day 3 after treatment, and 7days after G-CSF therapy was discontinued. In the control group, the measurements were made during corticosteroid andmethotrexate-free chemotherapy.RESULTS: The mean osteocalcin level (8.6±2.3 ng/mL) from before the onset of treatment decreased significantly (7.7±2.3ng/mL) on day 3 of G-CSF therapy and significantly increased after 7 days of G-CSF therapy (7.9±2.2 ng/mL) (p