Cohort study evaluates early versus delayed G-CSF administration's impact on clinical outcomes in cancer treatment, suggesting early use improves results.
Key Points
This study aims to evaluate the clinical outcomes of early versus delayed administration of G-CSF in patients with chemotherapy-induced neutropenia.
Conducted as a retrospective cohort study.
Included patients with early-stage breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy.
Categorized patients by the timing of G-CSF administration: early (48–72 hours) versus delayed (>72 hours).
Applied propensity score matching to balance baseline characteristics, creating a matched cohort of 236 patients.
Assessed outcomes using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards models.
Early G-CSF administration significantly improved event-free survival (HR = 0.46, P < 0.001).
Fever-free survival also improved with early administration (HR = 0.36, P = 0.001).
Neutropenia-free survival was better in the early group (HR = 0.53, P = 0.003).
Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of findings.