Introduction: Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a major dose-limiting toxicity of myelosuppressive chemotherapy, and several patients receiving chemotherapy are at intermediate risk of developing FN. However, the guidelines remain less clear regarding the use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (G-CSFs) for this population and insights about real-world prophylaxis patterns and FN outcomes are needed.
Areas covered: This scoping review summarizes the variability in real-world G-CSF prophylaxis treatment patterns, incidence of FN, and associated outcomes among patients receiving chemotherapy at intermediate risk of FN. G-CSF PP use varied across the included studies (N = 23). Overall, there was a trend for reduced FN incidence among patients who received G-CSF PP vs. those who did not. G-CSF PP was also associated with a lower incidence of FN-related dose delays and reductions and fewer hospitalization days. Gaps in the literature of real-world studies exist, particularly around incorporating FN risk factor assessment, patient-reported outcomes, and health economic outcomes.
Expert opinion: Further studies are warranted to determine the impact of G-CSF PP use on clinical, quality of life, and economic outcomes in patients with intermediate FN risk, which could optimize care for this subgroup of patients, resulting in better population-based FN-related outcomes.
Keywords: FN incidence; G-CSF; intermediate FN risk; primary prophylaxis; prophylaxis patterns; real-world.