Biosimilar G-CSF Effective in Preventing Febrile Neutropenia in Sarcoma

Filgrastim-sndz, a biosimilar product to the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) filgrastim, appears to be effective in the prevention of febrile neutropenia for, and for reducing the risk of hospitalization of, patients with soft tissue sarcoma receiving epirubicin and ifosfamide, according to a study published in Supportive Care in Cancer.¹

Anthracycline and ifosfamide-based chemotherapy are often used for soft tissue sarcoma in both early and advanced treatment settings.

Prophylaxis with G-CSF is typically required to reduce the severity of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia; researchers evaluated the efficacy and safety of filgrastim-sndz in this patient population.

Investigators analyzed data from 67 patients with soft tissue sarcoma who received epirubicin and ifosfamide between 2003 and 2013. As prophylaxis for chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, patients also received filgrastim, filgrastim-sndz, or lenograstim, which is not approved in the United States.

A total of 44% of patients in the filgrastim-sndz group experienced febrile neutropenia, in contrast with 40% in the filgrastim group and 45.5% in the lenograstim group.

The incidence of all grade and grade 4 neutropenia was similar across the 3 groups, as were the safety profiles.

The use of filgrastim-sndz achieved of cost savings of €225.25 over the filgrastim reference product.

Reference

1. Bongiovanni A, Monti M, Foca F, et al. Recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rG-CSF) in the management of neutropenia induced by anthracyclines and ifosfamide in patients with soft tissue sarcomas (NEUSAR). Supp Care Cancer. 2016 Aug 27. doi: 10.1007/s00520-016-3390-0 [Epub ahead of print]