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Evidence summaries

G-CSF for the Prophylaxis of Neutropenic Fever in Patients with Small Cell Lung Cancer

Prophylactic G-CSF appears not to affect mortality but does significantly reduce the incidence of neutropenic fever. Level of evidence: "B"

A systematic review 1 including 3 RCTs with a total of 393 subjects was abstracted in DARE. Cumulative rates of fever with neutropenia over 6 cycles for those given G-CSF was 38.7%, and for controls 68.3% (OR 0.29, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.40). OR for mortality rate for infection was 1.13 (95% CI 0.41 to 3.1). NNT to prevent at least one episode of fever with neutropenia was 3.4 (95% CI 2.7 to 4.6).

Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by sparse data.

    References

    • Messori A, Trippoli S, Tendi E. G-CSF for the prophylaxis of neutropenic fever in patients with small cell lung cancer receiving myelosuppressive antineoplastic chemotherapy: meta-analysis and pharmacoeconomic evaluation. J Clin Pharm Ther 1996 Apr;21(2):57-63. [PubMed][DARE]

Primary/Secondary Keywords