Neutropenia: Frequency and Management Outcomes in Women with Breast Cancer Receiving Anthracycline Based Chemotherapy

Objective: To analyse the frequency and management outcome of Neutropenia in women with breast cancer receiving Anthracycline chemotherapy. Study Design: Comparative Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Oncology Department, Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Feb to Nov 2021. Methodology: This study was conducted on 200 patients who have breast cancer who were put on an Anthracycline-based chemotherapy regimen. They underwent three or four cycles of chemotherapy as per the treatment plan. A complete blood picture was carried out on all patients after the cycle, and Neutropenia was graded according to the National Cancer Institute's Common Toxicity Criteria. Grade III and IV neutropenia patients were administered Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and the response was observed. Results: A total of 200 patients with breast cancer receiving Anthracycline-based chemotherapy were included. The mean age of the patients was 54.775±9.649 years. Seven hundred sixty-two cycles were recorded on these patients during the study period. Of these 762 cycles, 245(32.1%) episodes of Neutropenia were recorded. 60(24.4%) had either Grade III or IV neutropenia. Out of those having Grade III or IV neutropenia, 50(83.3%) had improvement after administration of G-CSF, while 10(16.7%) did not show any improvement. The advancing age of patients had a statistically significant relationship (p-value-0.001) with poor response to G-CSF treatment in our study participants. Conclusion: Considerable number of post-menopausal patients with advanced breast cancer taking Anthracycline-based chemotherapy showed the presence of Neutropenia. G-CSF emerged as an effective treatment for high-grade Neutropenia in these patients.