Pharmacoeconomics and considerations for injectable products: focus on colony-stimulating factors.

OBJECTIVE: To discuss clinical data on the utility of 2 colony-stimulating factors(CSFs), filgrastim and pegfilgrastim, in reducing the risk and incidence of neu-tropenic complications with chemotherapy. DATA SOURCES: This article reviews the data from the clinical studies for bothpegfilgrastim and filgrastim. Additionally, data from large, population-based ret-rospective analyses on the clinical and economic consequences of chemothera-py-induced neutropenia (CIN) are reviewed. CONCLUSIONS: CIN remains an undertreated condition despite the evidence of itsdanger. Pivotal trials show that CSFs like pegfilgrastim and filgrastim are safeand effective in reducing both the incidence and duration of CIN and febrile neu-tropenia in patients who have been treated with myelosuppressive chemothera-py. Approximately 11 daily injections of filgrastim per chemotherapy cycle arerequired to achieve this clinical end point. Pegfilgrastim provides all the clinicalbenefits of daily filgrastim for managing CIN with a single dose per chemothera-py cycle.