Neutropenic event incidence in women with early-stage breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy: a retrospective study.

Objectives: To assess the incidence of neutropenia, febrile neutropenia, documented infection with neutropenia and fever associated with early-stage breast cancer (BC) in a real-life setting.

Methods: A retrospective study that includes 88 women with BC who received a first dose of Epirubicin plus Cyclophosphamide with or without 5-Fluorouracil, in the county hospital of Ryhov, Sweden. The patients were included continuously from May 2017 to November 2020 and were ≥18 years old. All data was collected in a form and the G-CSF prophylaxis was checked to ensure that it was given during the treatments.

Results: The median age among the patients was 59 (min 27-82max) years. 79 patients were treated with primary prophylaxis with Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) support. Seven (8.0%) patients were affected by a neutropenic episode, including one (1.1%) patient with FN and two (2.3%) patients with documented infection (online supplemental table 1).

Conclusion: The incidence of neutropenic events in this study is relatively low. A higher incidence of neutropenic episodes is observed in patients ≥ 60 years old compared with younger patients, despite lower doses of chemotherapy for the elderly. The use of G-CSF in the elderly, regardless of the dose of chemotherapy, may be needed to decrease the incidence of neutropenia and its consequences. The adverse effects of G-CSF and its cost-effectiveness are important perspectives which should be included in the treatment.