title: Clinical trial of low-dose rHuG-CSF in neutropenic cancer patients following anti-cancer chemotherapy.
abstract: Low-dose, subcutaneous recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rHuG-CSF, Lenograstim) was administered to 40 cancer patients (17 men, 23 women) enrolled from two medical centers to verify its clinical effectiveness and safety. The patients' mean age was 50.3 +/- 14.9 years. In this study, there were 20 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 10 with breast cancer and 10 with various other solid tumors. The patients first received a course of chemotherapy without rHuG-CSF (control cycle). All patients had at least one episode of neutropenia or leukopenia during the control cycle. rHuG-CSF (2 micrograms/kg/day) was given subcutaneously for 10 days during the study cycle starting on the fourth day of chemotherapy. The nadirs of absolute neutrophil counts (ANC) were 1.8 +/- 0.25 x 10(9)/L and 0.27 +/- 0.05 x 10(9)/L for the rHuG-CSF cycle and pre-rHuG-CSF control cycle, respectively. The number of days of ANC < 1 x 10(9)/L were 1.03 +/- 0.29 and 7.38 +/- 0.58 for rHuG-CSF and control cycles, respectively. The duration from nadir to recovery of ANC (> or = 2 x 10(9)/L) was 9.68 +/- 1.15 days in the rHuG-CSF cycle, vs 22.53 +/- 1.03 days in the control cycle (p < 0.0001). No patient withdrew from the study. Adverse events were mild, with 12.5% to 40% of patients developing myalgia, general malaise, back pain, anorexia or fever. These side-effects were tolerable in all cases. The biochemical abnormalities were subtle and negligible. rHuG-CSF 2 micrograms/kg/day given subcutaneously for 10 days beginning on the fourth day of chemotherapy is very effective (90%), safe and convenient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Tsan
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000628:therapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor