title: Pegfilgrastim: current and future perspectives in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia.
abstract: Myeloid colony-stimulating factors (granulocyte colony-stimulating factor [G-CSF] and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor) are commonly used in clinical practice for the prevention of anticancer chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and its potentially life-threatening complications. Pegfilgrastim is a novel recombinant human G-CSF pharmaceutically developed by covalent binding of a polyethylene glycol molecule to the N-terminal sequence of filgrastim. Due to its unique neutrophil-mediated clearance, pegfilgrastim can be administered once per chemotherapy cycle. Clinical trials have demonstrated that a single, fixed, subcutaneous dose of pegfilgrastim is comparable in safety and efficacy to daily injections of filgrastim for decreasing the incidence of infection following myelosuppressive chemotherapy in patients with cancer. Recent trials have been conducted to evaluate the use of pegfilgrastim in different clinical settings, including support of dose-dense regimens, mobilization and transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells.
authors.affiliation: Ospedale Niguarda Ca' Granda, Piazza Ospedale Maggiore 3, 20162 Milano, Italy. riccardo.ricotta@ospedaleniguarda.it
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ricotta
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cerea
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schiavetto
authors.forename: Maria Rosaria
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Maugeri
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pedrazzoli
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Siena
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D000069585:Filgrastim; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019650:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Mobilization; D006801:Humans; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; C455861:pegfilgrastim; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D000069585:Filgrastim