Long-Acting G-CSF May Reduce FN-Related Hospitalization in DLBCL After R-CHOP

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to fix several errors.

Long-acting granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) can reduce the risk of hospitalization related to febrile neutropenia (FN) in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP), according to an analysis of real-world data presented at ESMO Congress 2022.

For this study, researchers explored the effects of primary prophylaxis with long-acting G-CSF, such as pegfilgrastim, on FN-related hospitalization, length of hospital stay, and survival.

The researchers analyzed data from patients included in South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service database. All patients had DLBCL and received R-CHOP between January 2010 and December 2016.

A total of 3599 patients were exposed to long-acting G-CSF after it became available in South Korea, and they were treated from January 2014 until December 2015. This group was compared to 3017 patients treated from July 2011 through June 2013, when long-acting G-CSF was not available.

In a fully-adjusted analysis, the risk of FN-related hospitalization was reduced in patients exposed to long-acting G-CSF (hazard ratio [HR], 0.84; 95% CI, 0.79-0.89; P <.001). However, there was no significant difference in length of hospital stay between patients who received G-CSF and those who did not (P =.382).

There was no significant difference in the risk of 1-year mortality between patients who received G-CSF and those who did not (HR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.88-1.10; P =.782). Similarly, there was no significant difference in the risk of 5-year mortality between the groups (HR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.90-1.05; P =.474).

“[L]ong-acting G-CSF such as pegfilgrastim and its biosimilars lowered the risk of FN-related hospitalization in Korean DLBCL patients receiving R-CHOP,” the researchers wrote in their ESMO poster presentation. “However, short-and long-term survival benefits associated with PP [primary prophylaxis] use were unclear.”

Reference

Kim M, Ahn Y, Ahn H, Yi S. Infection-related hospitalization and overall survival with primary prophylaxis for febrile neutropenia in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with R-CHOP: A nationwide population-based study. Presented at ESMO 2022; September 9-13, 2022. Abstract 628P.

This article originally appeared on Hematology Advisor