Granulocytapheresis as a Possible Cancer Treatment

Abstract:Guest Editor's Introduction: The granulocyte removal column was developed by Japan Immunoresearch Laboratories Co. based upon the hypothesis that the normalization of granulocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio would be beneficial for the treatment of cancer since the ratio is increased due to the cancer leukocytosis. The column consists of cellulose acetate beads with a diameter of 2 mm, which removes granulocytes and monocytes from blood with no significant changes in the number of lymphocytes or platelets. The clinical results for cancer treatment was less impressive than the animal experiments. Subsequently, however, the G-1 Column was found very useful for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and rhumatoid arthritis. This paper describes the clinical application for cancer treatment, and was printed in Anticancer Research, vol. 15, page 985–990 (1995). This paper was reprinted here with permission. We assessed the effect of granulocyte apheresis in patients exhibiting increased granulocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio in order to overcome granulocytosis occurring in the terminal stages of malignancies. 17 patients with post-operative recurrent metastatic tumors including 6 gastric, 3 colonic, 2 rectal, 1 esophageal and 5 breast cancers were selected. The granulocytapheresis was performed by extracorporeal vein-to-vein circulation equipped with an apheresis column filled with cellulose acetate beads. Each week the patients underwent one or two sessions of treatment that lasted 30 to 50 minutes per session at a flow rate of 30 to 50 ml/min. 15 sessions formed 1 therapeutic cycle. The effect of granulocytapheresis resulted in partial response (PR) in 4 cases, no change (NC) in 7 cases and partial disease (PD) in 6 cases. The performance status showed 30% remission. None of the patients exhibited significant side effects. Since the treatment demonstrated anti-tumor effects, granulocytapheresis may be applied during combined cancer treatments.