Perspectives on the use of cytokines in the management of infectious complications of cancer.

Abstract

Treatment of neoplastic diseases is followed by a variety of infectious complications. Neutropenia and functional defects of phagocytes are common consequences of cancer and its treatment and contribute to an increased susceptibility to infections. Cytokines with hematopoietic growth stimulatory and/or immunoenhancing properties, such as granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), interleukin-3, interferon-gamma, macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interleukin-1, and interleukin-6 have been shown to either have clinical utility in patients with cancer and neutropenia or offer the promise to do so. GM-CSF and G-CSF, for example, have been shown to reduce the incidence of fever and infectious complications in patients with cancer and neutropenia. The role of cytokines for the treatment of defined infections (e.g., invasive mycoses) is under investigation.