The endogenous granulocyte colony-stimulating factor response following autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation is impaired in patients with myeloma.

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) levels were studied in 23 patients (10 myeloma, 13 relapsed Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or germ cell tumours), post autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT). The two groups had similar previous chemotherapy and numbers of CD34+ cells transplanted. All patients received G-CSF by injection starting 8 d post transplantation. Twenty out of 23 patients showed raised endogenous levels of G-CSF before cytokine administration. Myeloma patients showed significantly lower levels of endogenous G-CSF than the other patients (0.767 versus 3.262 ng/ml, P < 0.05). Further rises in G-CSF levels were seen following the administration of exogenous G-CSF which then fell, despite ongoing administration of G-CSF, as neutrophil recovery occurred.