A Closed-loop Audit of 5 versus 10 Days of Primary GCSF Prophylaxis to Reduce the Incidence of Febrile Neutropenia in Early Breast Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Purpose: Current guidelines recommend that patients with early breast cancer receiving chemotherapy that confers >20% risk of febrile neutropenia should have primary prophylactic granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) on days 2–6 of chemotherapy [1,2]. An initial audit [3] demonstrated non-inferiority of 5 days versus 10 days of primary prophylactic GCSF in respect of febrile neutropenia rates seen in early breast cancer chemotherapy. Since 1 August 2016, our centre has switched from 10 days of prophylactic GCSF to 5 days. We re-audited febrile neutropenia rates following our change in practice.