Related Experiment Videos
Different schedules of granulocyte growth factor support for patients with breast cancer receiving adjuvant
Daniel Hendler1, Shulamith Rizel, Rinat Yerushalmi
1Institute of Oncology, Davidoff Center, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, Petach Tikva, Israel. danielh@clalit.org.il
Purpose:
This prospective, nonrandomized study evaluates 4 schedules of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) for patients with breast cancer receiving adjuvant dose-dense chemotherapy regarding febrile neutropenia, treatment delays, and costs.
Patients And Methods:
Two hundred and thirty-one patients were enrolled to receive adjuvant dose-dense chemotherapy with 4 G-CSF schedules: filgrastim (300 mcg) days 3 to 10 [n = 84 (36.4%) group A]; days 3 to 7 [n = 26 (11.3%) group B]; days 5, 7, 9, and 11 [n = 64 (27.7%) group C], or pegfilgrastim (6 mg) on day 2 [n=57 (24.6%) group D].
Results:
Thirteen patients were hospitalized due to 14 episodes of febrile neutropenia; 3 in group A, 3 in group B, 1 in group C, and 6 in group D. No statistically significant difference was observed among the 4 groups. Fewer febrile neutropenic events were observed in group C than in group D (P=0.041). No statistically significant differences were observed in treatment delays or other hematological toxicities. Average overall G-CSF cost per patient in groups A and D was $8500 versus $4400 in groups B and C.
Conclusions:
We found a trend in favor of the shorter G-CSF schedule. A larger, prospective randomized trial should be carried out to evaluate shorter versus standard filgrastim and pegfilgrastim schedules with regard to clinical outcomes, hematological and nonhematological toxicities, and impact in costs.
