Abstract
A prospective clinical trial was conducted to test the effectiveness of granulocyte transfusions during induction chemotherapy of patients with adult acute nonlymphocyte leukemia. Thirtyβeight patients who received prophylactic granulocyte transfusions from related donors when their phagocyte counts decreased to < 1000 ΞΌl were compared to twentyβfive controls who did not have qualified donors from which to obtain granulocyte transfusions. The frequency of complete remissions (CR) (28/38 versus 7/25) was significantly greater for the granulocyte transfusion group than for controls. Patients older than 45 responded more often in the transfused group (P < 0.025) when compared to the similar age group in controls. Both duration of complete remission and survival were greater in the granulocyte transfused group. However, these differences were not statistically significant. Survival for all responders (complete plus partial remission) was longer for the granulocyte transfusion group (P = 0.01). No significant difference in frequency or severity of either infection or hemorrhage was noted in the two groups. The advantage noted in this study largely occurred in patients older than 45 and this suggests that this age group is more likely to respond if they have histocompatible donors from which to obtain granulocyte and platelet transfusions. Immune mechanisms may be involved in the beneficial effects observed with HLA compatible granulocyte transfusions.