Risk factors for febrile neutropenia and effectiveness of primary prophylaxis with pegfilgrastim in patients with esophageal cancer treated with docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil

BACKGROUND: The docetaxel, 5-fluorouracil, and cisplatin (DCF) regimen is an effective form of chemotherapy for advanced esophageal cancer. However, the incidence of adverse events such as febrile neutropenia and hematological toxicity is high. METHODS: Among 937 patients with esophageal cancer at Toranomon Hospital between January 2011 and December 2018, 92 who underwent the DCF regimen as initial treatment were selected. We investigated the risk factors for febrile neutropenia in patients with esophageal cancer treated with DCF regimen and the effectiveness of pegfilgrastim as primary prophylaxis. RESULTS: Adverse events (CTCAE grade ≥ 3) were observed in 45 of the 92(48.9%) patients with esophageal cancer treated with an initial DCF regimen. Febrile neutropenia was observed in 20 (21.7%) patients. Non-use of pegfilgrastim (odds ratio = 16.393; 95% confidence interval 2.049–125.0) as primary prophylaxis was identified as an independent factor predictive of febrile neutropenia. The pegfilgrastim group had a significantly lower incidence of neutropenia than the control group (9.1% vs 61.0%; p < 0.001). The incidence of febrile neutropenia was 3.0% in the pegfilgrastim group and 32.2% in the control group (p = 0.001). In addition, the incidence of any adverse effect ≥ CTCAE grade3 was also significantly lower in the pegfilgrastim group (12.1% vs 69.5%; p < 0.001). The reduced/interruption rate of next DCF therapy was 6.1% in the pegfilgrastim group and 30.5% in the control group (p = 0.006). CONCLUSION: This study revealed that the non-use of pegfilgrastim was an independent factor predictive of febrile neutropenia in multivariate analysis. Pegfilgrastim as primary prophylaxis prevents severe neutropenia and febrile neutropenia in patients with esophageal cancer treated with the DCF regimen.