Risk Factors for Febrile Neutropenia Induced by Docetaxel Chemotherapy in Patients with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

We retrospectively obtained data of patient background and pretreatment characteristics from medical records and identified the predictive factors of febrile neutropenia (FN) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with docetaxel alone or in combination with the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibody bevacizumab. Patients were eligible for inclusion in the study if they were 20 years or older, diagnosed with NSCLC, and received docetaxel monotherapy alone or in combination with bevacizumab at the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, between July 1, 2011, and March 31, 2018. Eighty-one patients with recurrent or advanced NSCLC were included. Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis with backward selection revealed that lower baseline Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG-PS) scores of I and 2 (odds ratio (OR), 5.098; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.045-24.879, p = 0.021) and baseline platelet count below 18.8 x 10(4)/pL (OR, 3.861; 95% CI, 1.211-12.311, p = 0.022) were significant factors influencing the FN occurrence rate. Our results demonstrated that ECOG-PS 1-2 and lower baseline platelet count were significant risk factors of FN in patients with NSCLC receiving docetaxel-based chemotherapy. Moreover, the combination of anti-VEGF antibodies and docetaxel might be associated with increased FN frequency. Despite the limitations of this study including its retrospective design, single-center site, and small sample size, baseline ECOG-PS score and platelet count may be regarded as important indices to identify patients for prophylactic granulocyte colony stimulating factor (C-CSF) treatment before docetaxel-based chemotherapy.