Full title
Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) to treat acute-on-chronic liver failure: A multicenter randomized trial (GRAFT study)
Authors
Cornelius Engelmann, Adam Herber, Annegret Franke, Tony Bruns, Philipp Reuken, Ingolf Schiefke, Alexander Zipprich, Stefan Zeuzem, Tobias Goeser, Ali Canbay, Christoph Berg, Jonel Trebicka, Frank E. Uschner, Johannes Chang, Tobias Mueller, Niklas Aehling, Moritz Schmelzle, Katrin Splith, Frank Lammert, Christian M. Lange, Christoph Sarrazin, Christian Trautwein, Michael Manns, Dieter Häussinger, Jan Pfeiffenberger, Peter R. Galle, Anett Schmiedeknecht and Thomas Berg
Abstract
Background & Aims
Based on positive results from small single center studies, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) is being widely used for the treatment of patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). Herein, we aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of G-CSF in patients with ACLF.
Methods
In this multicenter, prospective, controlled, open-label phase II study, 176 patients with ACLF (EASL-CLIF criteria) were randomized to receive G-CSF (5 μg/kg daily for the first 5 days and every third day thereafter until day 26) plus standard medical therapy (SMT) (n = 88) or SMT alone. The primary efficacy endpoint was 90-day transplant-free survival analyzed by Cox regression modeling. The key secondary endpoints were overall and transplant-free survival after 360 days, the development of ACLF-related complications, and the course of liver function scores during the entire observation period.
Results
Patients treated with G-CSF had a 90-day transplant-free survival rate of 34.1% compared to 37.5% in the SMT group (hazard ratio [HR] 1.05; 95% CI 0.711–1.551; p = 0.805). Transplant-free and overall survival at 360 days did not differ between the 2 arms (HR 0.998; 95% CI 0.697–1.430; p = 0.992 and HR 1.058; 95% CI 0.727–1.548; p = 0.768, respectively). G-CSF did not improve liver function scores, the occurrence of infections, or survival in subgroups of patients without infections, with alcohol-related ACLF, or with ACLF defined by the APASL criteria. Sixty-one serious adverse events were reported in the G-CSF+SMT group and 57 were reported in the SMT group. In total, 7 drug-related serious adverse reactions occurred in the G-CSF group. The study was prematurely terminated due to futility after conditional power calculation.
Conclusions
In contrast to previous findings, G-CSF had no significant beneficial effect on patients with ACLF in this multicenter controlled trial, which suggests that it should not be used as a standard treatment for ACLF.