COVID-19 Prevention Guidance and the Incidence of Febrile Neutropenia in Patients with Breast Cancer Receiving TAC Chemotherapy with Prophylactic Pegfilgrastim

Chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia (FN) is a medical emergency that causes severe adverse effects and death. Respiratory infections are one of the main causes of fever in patients with FN. We studied whether infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance for coronavirus 2019 disease reduced the incidence of FN. We reviewed female patients with breast cancer treated with adjuvant docetaxel, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide with prophylactic pegfilgrastim between 2019 and 2021. IPC guidance was implemented in April 2020. There was no difference in the incidence of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia between patients with and without IPC. In patients with IPC, the incidence of FN (9.5%) was lower than that of patients without IPC (27.9%). The hospitalization duration (0.7 +/- 1.5 days) and total hospital cost (279.6 +/- 42.6 USD) of the IPC group were significantly lower than that of the non-IPC group (2.0 +/- 3.8 days and 364.7 +/- 271.6 USD, respectively). IPC guidance should be implemented to prevent FN in high-risk patients with breast cancer.

Automated summary

Chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia (FN) can be a severe medical emergency with high mortality rates. This study aimed to determine whether implementing infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance for COVID-19 reduced the incidence of FN in female breast cancer patients. The results showed that implementing IPC guidance reduced the occurrence of FN, leading to shorter hospitalization duration and lower total hospital costs.