In our opinion, the main limitation to CIP polychemotherapy at the doses presented in this trial is that its toxicity seems less manageable than with CEP, as indicated by the higher frequency of leucopaenia (P=0.0001), anaemia (P=0.002), need for granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) (P=0.0002) and transfusion (P=0.03) and, above all, the higher incidence of febrile neutropaenia, considered as a potentially life-threatening event. The gene discussed is CSF3; the disease is anemia (phenotype).