Although GM-CSF does not appear to be essential for normal hemopoiesis, overexpression of GM-CSF has been implicated in the pathogenesis of some diseases such as myeloid leukemia and chronic inflammation.
The specific stimulation of myelocytic leukemia cells with granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin 3 (IL-3) yielded flow karyograms displaying the leukemia-associated chromosome abnormalities.