The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7222 p636
2 November 2002

This article
Reprint
Photocopy

News summary

Related websites
European Society for Medical Oncology congress (more)

Long-acting form of filgrastim improves chemotherapy-induced neutropenia

Pegfilgrastim (Neulasta), a long-acting form of filgrastim (Neupogen), has the potential to improve the management of neutropenia in cancer patients with non-myeloid malignancies receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy, new data show.

Pegfilgrastim, which is being developed by Amgen and is expected to be launched in the United Kingdom next year, is administered once per chemotherapy cycle, unlike filgrastim which is given by daily injections.

A combined analysis of two phase III trials of patients with breast cancer showed that 11 per cent of patients given a single injection of pegfilgrastim (n=226) experienced febrile neutropenia compared with 19 per cent of patients given daily injections of filgrastim (n=222).

A single dose of pegfilgrastim provided protection from infection associated with chemotherapy-induced neutropenia comparable to a median of 11 daily injections of filgrastim.

Data were presented at the 27th European Society for Medical Oncology in Nice last month.