Chemotherapy-induced Neutropenia in cancer patients with solid tumors in India

The present study was aimed to evaluate the incidences of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and febrile neutropenia in the patients with solid tumors in India. The patients with carcinomas of breast, lung, ovary, colon, head and neck, and liver were divided in two groups. Group 1 was for the patients who experienced grade 0-2 neutropenia and Group 2 was for the patients with grade 3-4 neutropenia. Different types of chemotherapeutic agents were administered to the patients according to the routine practice of the physicians. The study revealed that the incidences of grade 3-4 neutropenia were observed in the patients with the first time exposure of the chemotherapeutic agents as well as the age factor also played an important role in the occurrence of neutropenia and febrile neutropenia. The results of this observational study indicate that the proportion of grade 0-2 neutropenia does not significantly (P-value > 0.05) differ from the hypotheses value (i.e. 50%). Thus, we concluded that the proportion of incidence of grade 3-4 neutropenia is less as compared to proportion of grade 0-2 neutropenia. The grade of neutropenia and impaired chemotherapy delivery remain serious problems in most solid tumor carcinomas. Hence, proper preventive rather than reactive measures should be taken by the physicians, considering co-factors which are responsible for the occurrence of neutropenia, to avoid severe long-term implications.