To analyze efficacy and safety of pegfilgrastim versus filgrastim in patients with breast cancer

Abstract

e20587 Background: We evaluated the safety and efficacy of a single fixed 6 mg dose of pegfilgrastim (a pegylated version of filgrastim) per cycle of chemotherapy, compared with daily administration of filgrastim, in the provision of neutrophil support. Methods: Patients with carcinoma of breast, less than 65 yrs with ECOG performance status 0 or 1 treated at our institution were randomized to receive either a single 6 mg subcutaneous (s.c.) injection of pegfilgrastim or daily 5 mg/kg s.c. injections of filgrastim, after adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy with doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide and docetaxel (60 mg/m, 600 mg/m2 and 75 mg/m2, respectively)q3 wk. Duration of grade 4 neutropenia (DSN), incidence of febrile neutropenia (FN), grade 4 neutropenia (SN), IV anti-infective use (IV), hospitalization and adverse events like bony pain (BP), anemia & thrombocytopenias were assessed as safety endpoints. Results: 71 patients were analyzed from Aug 2007 to Dec 2008. The median age in pegfilgrastim group is 58 years and filgrastim is 57 years respectively. Results are shown ( Table ). The mean duration of grade 4 neutropenia (DSN) in cycle 1 was 2.0 and 1.7 days for the pegfilgrastim and filgrastim groups, respectively. Results for all efficacy end points in cycles 2–6 were consistent with the results from cycle 1. A trend towards a lower incidence of febrile neutropenia was noted across all cycles with pegfilgrastim compared with filgrastim (10.7% versus 18.6%, respectively). Conclusions: A single fixed dose of pegfilgrastim administered once per cycle of chemotherapy was comparable to multiple daily injections of filgrastim. [Table: see text] No significant financial relationships to disclose.