Phase III placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized trial of pegfilgrastim to reduce the risk of febrile neutropenia in breast cancer patients receiving docetaxel/cyclophosphamide chemotherapy

PURPOSE: Pegfilgrastim is a pegylated form of filgrastim, a recombinant protein of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, that is used to reduce the risk of febrile neutropenia (FN). Here, we report the results of a phase III trial of pegfilgrastim in breast cancer patients receiving docetaxel and cyclophosphamide (TC) chemotherapy. METHODS: We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial to determine the efficacy of pegfilgrastim in reducing the risk of FN in early-stage breast cancer patients. A total of 351 women (177 in the pegfilgrastim group and 174 in the placebo group) between 20 and 69 years of age with stage I–III invasive breast carcinoma who were to receive TC chemotherapy (docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) and cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks) as either neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy were enrolled; 346 of these patients were treated with either pegfilgrastim (n = 173) or placebo (n = 173). RESULTS: The incidence of FN was significantly lower in the pegfilgrastim group than in the placebo group (1.2 vs. 68.8 %, respectively; P < 0.001). In addition, patients in the pegfilgrastim group required less hospitalization and antibiotics for FN. Most adverse events were consistent with those expected for breast cancer subjects receiving TC chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Pegfilgrastim is safe and significantly reduces the incidence of FN in breast cancer patients. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00520-014-2597-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.