Earlier Blood Cell Boosters Can Benefit Chemo Patients
Researchers from the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center (DCCC) are reporting study results showing that chemotherapy patients who took a white blood cell booster early in their treatment were 50 percent less likely to die of infection than patients who didn’t take the booster early in their regimen.
The multi-national study, led by researchers from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and the DCCC, compiled the results of 17 studies involving more than 3,000 patients receiving varying intensities of chemotherapy for different forms of cancer. Their investigation revealed that nearly 40 percent of patients who didn’t receive the booster, known as granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, developed fever and a potentially life-threatening condition, febrile neutropenia, linked to low white blood cell counts.
As the study’s lead author explained,
“Patients taking a drug known as granulocyte colony-stimulating factor were about half as likely to develop dangerously low white blood cell counts with fever, and half as likely to die from infection.”
“This study represents an important part of the effort to better treat this common complication in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.”
– Nicole M Kuderer MD
Duke Hematology-Oncology Fellow & Lead Author
Recently revised guidelines regarding the earlier use of Neulasta and Neupogen issued by the American Society of Clinical Oncology are consistent with the conclusions found in the study.
The study was part of research conducted by the Awareness of Neutropenia in Chemotherapy Study Group and was funded by Amgen and the National Institutes of Health. Results are published in the July 20, 2007, edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Source: DukeMed News
Related Links: GEN; Mayo Clinic; BioSpace
Spanish Links: Neulasta Info from Amgen; iHealthBulletin
Related Feed: Neutropenia from MedicineNet
Tags: pharmaceutical; Gary Lyman; David Dale; University of Washington; pegfilgrastim; filgrastim
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