The Colony-Stimulating Factors (CSFs) are undergoing clinical trials for their ability to stimulate the regeneration of bone marrow in patients receiving anticancer chemotherapy. However, the reported effects on the growth of tumor cell lines of different derivations, including osteosarcoma, raise the possibility that the use of these cytokines may induce proliferative effects also in residual tumor cells. In this study, we have used a panel of 12 human osteosarcoma (2 cell lines and 10 primary cultures) and 7 Ewing's sarcoma cell lines (5 cell lines and 2 primary cultures) to evaluate the presence of the G-CSF receptor by RT-PCR and the effects of recombinant Human (rHu) G-CSF on their in vitro growth ability. RT-PCR did not reveal the presence of G-CSF receptor band in any of the osteosarcoma or Ewing's cell lines examined. Moreover, after exposure to rHuG-CSF, no significant stimulatory or inhibitory effects were observed in any of the cell lines. Therefore, G-CSF may be safely used to stimulate marrow regeneration after high-dose chemotherapy both in osteosarcoma and in Ewing's sarcoma.

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