Pegfilgrastim, facing neutropenia

Introduction: Prior to the arrival of colony stimulating factors it was frequent that by administering myelosuppressing regimes a terrible adverse effect would appear: that is neutropenia. Therefore, when treating such an important neoplasia as is breast cancer with agents like taxanes and anthracyclines, the use of these factors becomes imperative to avoid neutropenia or diminish its severity. Objective: To observe the benefit attained with pegfilgrastim as primary prophylaxis in patients with breast cancer treated with potentially neutropenic regimes and to recognize its impact on the frequency and severity of neutropenia during treatment. Methods: Thirty-two patients were included from the Hospital ISSSTEP with patological diagnosis of breast cancer, and ages ranging from 33 to 70 years. Patients received the following schemes: docetaxel 100 mg/m(2), docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) or 100 mg/m(2) combined with doxorubicin 50 mg/m(2), doxorubicin 50 mg/m(2) with cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m(2) and fluorouracil 500mg/m(2), doxorubicin 60 mg/m(2) combined with cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m2. They received at least four chemotherapy cycles, had ECOG 0 - 2 and a life expectancy higher than 3 months. We requested blood tests on day 7th and 21st. Results: Only three cases of neutropenia were present (two cases of grade I neutropenia and one case grade II). No patient was hospitalized during the treatment due to infection or had febrile neutropenia. Conclusion: The use of pegfilgrastim decreases the risk of neutropenia and its complications.