MONITOR-GCSF DLBCL subanalysis: Treatment patterns/outcomes with biosimilar filgrastim for chemotherapy-induced/febrile neutropenia prophylaxis.

OBJECTIVE: Prospective data on the use of granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and its aggressive subtypes, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), are limited. MONITOR-GCSF is a pan-European, multicenter, prospective, observational study aiming to describe treatment patterns and clinical outcomes in patients receiving biosimilar filgrastim in the prophylaxis of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) and febrile neutropenia (FN).

METHODS: This analysis describes patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcomes for 245 patients with stage 3 or 4 DLBCL receiving ≤6 chemotherapy cycles as part of MONITOR-GCSF study, including patients aged ≥65 years and ≥70 years. Outcomes of interest included the incidence of CIN and FN, antibiotic prophylaxis, biosimilar filgrastim prophylaxis, and adverse events (AEs).

RESULTS: MONITOR-GCSF included 245 patients with DLBCL. Of these patients, 87 (35.5%) experienced one or more CIN (any grade) episode and 24 (9.8%) experienced FN (any grade). The most frequent AE reported was bone pain (n = 7, 2.9%), followed by arthralgia (n = 2, 0.8%) and back pain (n = 2, 0.8%).

CONCLUSION: In real-life practice, biosimilar filgrastim demonstrated clinical effectiveness and safety in patients with DLBCL. The large percentage of patients aged ≥65 years adds to the evidence on how to best treat older patients with DLBCL receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy.