Subcutaneous Administration of Pegylated Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor for Long-Term Promotion of Collateral Growth in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death in industrialized countries. Current revascularization therapies are PCI or surgical revascularization. However, inherent to them are procedure-related risks and the fact, that progression of CAD is not prevented. Additionally, up to one fourth of all CAD patients are not amenable to standard revascularization therapies. Thus, there is a need for alternative therapies. The coronary collateral circulation is prevalent in humans, and in CAD the amount of collateral flow is a pivotal protective factor with respect to infarct size, all-cause- and cardiac mortality. Coronary collateral growth promotion is an alternative to conventional revascularization which can be achieved by cytokine-based approaches (e.g. with colony-stimulating factor-therapy) in humans. The goal of collateral promotion is to reduce myocardial damage in case of a coronary occlusion.