The Impact of Prophylactic Post-Chemotherapy G-CSF on the Relapse Rates in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

This meta-analysis evaluated the impact of prophylactic post-chemotherapy granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Overall, the relapse rate, overall survival, event-free survival, and mortality rate were similar in G-CSF (+) compared to G-CSF (−) patients. However, the relative risk (RR) of relapse was higher in children and in secondary AML patients who were treated with G-CSF compared to the G-CSF (−) group [RR, 95% confidence interval: 1.26, 1.04–1.52, and 1.12 (1.02–1.24)]. Treatment with post-chemotherapy G-CSF should be prescribed with caution in pediatric patients with AML and secondary AML as possibly increasing the relapse risk.

Keywords:

• Acute myeloid leukemia
• granulocyte colony-stimulating factor
• relapse
• survival
• meta-analysis

Authors contributions

M.B. had the idea for the article. S.H., M.H.-B., and F.N. performed the literature search. M.S. performed data analysis. S.H. and M.H.-B. prepared the original draft. M.B., O.Z., and S.B. collaborated in reviewing and editing. S.H. made the critical proofreading. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. All authors have contributed substantially to the work reported.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

Not applicable.