Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) to treat acute-on- chronic liver failure: A multicenter randomized trial (GRAFT study)

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 mu g/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 effi- cacy 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 GCSF+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. ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT02669680 Lay summary: Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor was considered as a novel treatment for acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). We performed the first randomized, multicenter, controlled phase II trial, which showed that G-CSF did not improve survival or other clinical endpoints in patients with ACLF. Therefore, G-CSF should not be used to treat liver disease outside clinical studies. (C) 2021 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this multicenter controlled trial, G-CSF did not show significant beneficial effects on ACLF patients compared to standard medical therapy alone. The study was terminated prematurely due to futility after analysis. Therefore, G-CSF should not be recommended as a standard treatment for ACLF.