title: Leucogen tablets at 60 mg three times per day are safe and effective to control febrile neutropenia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether it is safe to use leucogen tablets 60 mg three times per day (180 mg for a day) and whether this regimen could reduce the incidence of febrile neutropenia caused by chemotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospectively designed study focused on the safety and effectiveness of leucogen tablets 60mg three times per day for a group of cancer patients during chemotherapy for mainly lung or gastric cancers. The tablets were administered from 5 days before until the termination of chemotherapy. Neutropenia and other healthcare encounters were defined as events and occurrence was estimated for comparison.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 39 patients receiving leucogen tablets 60mg three times per day, including 11 with gastric, 12 with lung and 16 with other sites of cancer. The mean age was 65 (29-75) years and there were 27 male and 12 female patients. The mean duration of leucogen tablets intake was 59 days. Eighteen patients were treated with taxane-based, 4 with irinotecan-based and 17 with other chemotherapy. The incidence of febrile neutropenia was 0%. Twelve patients were found severe neutropenia (grade III/IV), and the duration of severe neutropenia (grade III/IV) was 5 days. Treatment-emergent adverse events were attributable to complications of myelosuppressive chemotherapy or the primary disease (i.e., alopecia, nausea, asthenia, neutropenia, and severe hepatic renal dysfunction). No chemotherapy was delayed and no treatment related death was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggested that leucogen tablets 60mg three times per day (180mg for a day) are safe and could be effective for preventing febrile neutropenia in patients with chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemotherapy, the Affiliated Jiangsu Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University and Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Nanjing, China E-mail : huangxinen06 @aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Xin-En
authors.initials: XE
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Zhi-Ying
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Xue-Yan
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012449:Safety; D013607:Tablets / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D053778:Thiazolidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D013607:Tablets; D053778:Thiazolidines; C001176:Leyk