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Query: UMLS:C0027947 (neutropenia)
 17,527 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Neutropenia and anaemia are serious complications of myelosuppressive chemotherapy. They have a negative impact on patient quality of life and may reduce response to treatment. Febrile neutropenia, a potentially life-threatening complication of neutropenia, frequently requires hospital admission, while fatigue and weakness from anaemia reduce patient's capacity for activity. Pegfilgrastim and darbepoetin alfa, were designed to simplify and optimise treatment for patients with cancer. Once-per-cycle pegfilgrastim is as effective as daily filgrastim with respect to duration of severe neutropenia (DSN) and may have a lower incidence of febrile neutropenia than filgrastim. Darbepoetin alfa has enhanced biological activity and a serum terminal half-life three-fold longer than that of erythropoietin (EPO), which translates into rapid and sustained correction of anaemia with less frequent dosing. These novel cytokines have the potential to simplify the management of neutropenia and anaemia with fewer injections and less disruption to patients daily lives.
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PMID:Optimising management of neutropenia and anaemia in cancer chemotherapy-advances in cytokine therapy. 1456 20

Myelosuppression is a common dose-limiting factor for many cancer patients receiving cytotoxic treatment. It also contributes to the need for hospitalization, intravenous antibiotic administration, transfusion of blood products, and treatment delays. In the past decade, several hematopoietic growth factors have become available for attenuating hematologic toxicity of chemotherapy. Although the use of myeloid growth factors and erythropoietin has reduced the severity of neutropenia and anemia, these growth factors require frequent injections and, in some cases, frequent visits to healthcare facilities. Recently, the longer acting hematopoietic growth factors pegfilgrastim (Neulasta) and darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp) have been developed. Pegfilgrastim has shown safety and efficacy similar to those of standard granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (filgrastim) and provides the convenience of once-per-cycle dosing. Darbepoetin alfa, because of its long half-life, provides scheduling flexibility and can be administered at 1-, 2-, or 3-week intervals. The recent data from trials with recombinant human thrombopoietin also suggest that multiple daily dosing may not be required with this agent. The prognostic value of anemia and the impact of erythropoietin on tumor response and survival are under active investigation. Future directions will probably involve the use of new agents designed with the needs for infrequent dosing, less potential for immunogenicity and toxicity, and an expanding role in improving overall treatment outcome in mind.
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PMID:Future directions with hematopoietic growth factors. 1979 82