Background: While the product label and international guidelines recommend pegfilgrastim administration 24-72 hours following completion of chemotherapy, increasingly clinicians administer pegfilgrastim using a same-day protocol. We performed a meta-analysis to compare the incidence of febrile neutropenia (FN), chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) grade 4, and CIN/FN-related chemotherapy delays and dose reductions in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients treated with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone with or without rituximab (R±CHOP) who were provided with pegfilgrastim on the same-day of chemotherapy versus the standard 24-72h post-chemotherapy time window.

Methods: Six databases were searched for studies that compared same-day pegfilgrastim with the standard regimen in NHL patients. Given the low heterogeneity (I 2<50%, Cochrane Q test P>0.10, fixed-effect model was used to estimate pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all outcomes of interest.

Results: We identified 7 studies, including one clinical trial (Burris et al. 2010) and six retrospective cohort studies (Woods et al. 2010, Ibrahim et al. 2011, Karol et al. 2013, Cheng et al. 2014, Bartels et al. 2021, McBride et al. 2021), that evaluated same-day versus standard 24-72h administration of pegfilgrastim in NHL patients. Results were statistically non-significant for all outcomes (Figure 1): FN across all chemotherapy cycles (OR=1.48, 95%CI= 0.98-2.23, P=0.06, N of studies=7); FN after the first cycle (OR=1.98, 95% CI=0.80-4.90, P=0.14, N=4); CIN grade 4 across all cycles (OR=0.73, 95% CI=0.37-1.47, P= 0.38, N=3); CIN grade 4 after the first cycle (OR=2.58, 95%CI= 0.86-7.73, P=0.09, N=3); and chemotherapy dose delays or reductions (OR=2.25, 95%CI=0.42-11.97, P= 0.34, N=2).

Conclusion: In this independent study, the likelihood of developing FN and CIN grade 4 in the first cycle or across all chemotherapy cycles, and the likelihood of chemotherapy dose delays or reductions were statistically not different in NHL patients treated with R±CHOP and administered pegfilgrastim same-day or 24-72h post-chemotherapy. In the setting of NHL treated with R±CHOP, administering pegfilgrastim on the day of completion of chemotherapy may be a safe and effective method of prophylaxis.

Figure 1
Figure 1.
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Disclosures

Alrawashdh: Genentech: Current Employment. McBride: BMS: Current Employment. Abraham: Matrix45, LLC: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company.

© 2021 by The American Society of Hematology
2021
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