Bullous pyoderma gangrenosum after granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor treatment

Abstract

The hematopoietic growth factors are under investigation for the treatment of patients with chemotherapy‐induced bone marrow suppression. One such trial at the University of California, Los Angeles involves chemotherapy with or without granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (G‐CSF) in patients with small cell lung cancer. The authors report a case of a patient who had bullous pyoderma gangrenosum at the site of previous eczema during treatment with G‐CSF. The lesions resolved promptly when the drug was discontinued. Other investigators have recently reported inflammatory complications of G‐CSF and granulocyte–macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (GM‐CSF) but this is the first case report of biopsy‐proven neutrophilic dermatosis associated with administration of a hematopoietic growth factor. Patients should be monitored for development of inflammatory processes during G‐CSF therapy and this therapy should be given with caution to those patients with existing inflammatory conditions. Copyright © 1991 American Cancer Society