Prospective, randomized trial of sequential interleukin-3 and granulocyte- or granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor after standard-dose chemotherapy in cancer patients

Several in vitro and animal studies have shown that IL-3 primes hematopoietic stem cells to become more sensitive to later acting growth factors. We wanted to compare the toxicity and the synergistic stimulatory effect of interleukin-3 (IL-3) followed by granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CFS) or granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) on white blood cell (WBC) and platelet counts, after standard-dose chemotherapy (CT) in patients with solid tumors.