Objective: To assess the effect of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) on healing of chronic wounds.
Design: Prospective open study.
Setting: 1 cancer hospital and 2 University hospitals, Pakistan.
Subjects: 35 patients with chronic wounds (duration 3 months or longer) that had not responded to standard treatment. Patients with malignant ulcers were excluded.
Intervention: GM-CSF 10 microg/cm2 was injected subcutaneously along the edges and base of the wound. The treatment was given only once and patients were followed weekly for a minimum of six weeks.
Main outcome measures: Changes in size, shape, depth, edges and base of the wound, amount and quality of the granulation tissue, and type of discharge.
Results: Six patients were excluded from the analysis, 4 who died early of underlying disease and were not evaluable, and 2 who were excluded when histological examination of the wound showed that it was malignant. Although various types of wounds were studied, most (n = 10, 34%) were postoperative. 23 of the wounds were over 2 cm in diameter (mean 4.8 x 4.6 cm) with thin granulation tissue, and almost half were infected. Nine of the 29 wounds healed completely within six weeks while another 11 decreased in size by more than 50%; 7 patients responded slightly. Only two wounds showed no evidence of healing during the observation period. More than half of the 20 wounds that responded had healed by three weeks. Response did not correlate with any clinical variable including the presence of infection. Toxicity was negligible.
Conclusions: We conclude that subcutaneous injection of a single dose of GM-CSF may induce healing in refractory chronic wounds. Trials are necessary to validate these initial observations and to decide the optimal dose and route, and whether any additional benefit may be derived from repeated injections.