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The impact of first and subsequent cycle pegfilgrastim on neutropenic events in patients receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy in community practice: interim results of the prospective FIRST study
1 University of Oklahoma Cancer Center, Oklahoma City, OK, and 2 Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA
To gain additional experience in the community practice setting, we conducted a large, prospective study in patients with cancer receiving myelotoxic chemotherapy and pegfilgrastim support in all cycles. This interim analysis included 874 patients. The rate of febrile neutropenia was 2% in cycle 1 and 3% in cycles 1 and 2 combined. Only 1% of patients were hospitalized with febrile neutropenia, and 2% of patients had neutropenic hospitalizations in either cycle 1 or cycles 1 and 2 combined. Neutropenic events caused chemotherapy dose reductions in cycle 2 in 2% of patients and dose delays in < 1% of patients. The incidence of grade 3/4 and grade 4 neutropenia was 18% and 12%, respectively, in cycle 1 and 23% and 14%, respectively, in cycles 1 and 2 combined. These preliminary findings suggest that pegfilgrastim may markedly reduce neutropenic complications in this setting.
| Commun Oncol 2006;3:259–264 | full text |  203 kb |