Identification of risk factors predicting febrile neutropenia in patients with metastatic germ cell tumors receiving cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVES: To identify clinical features and predictive factors of febrile neutropenia in Japanese patients with metastatic germ cell tumors undergoing cytotoxic chemotherapy.

METHODS: Between April 2007 and May 2016, 86 consecutive Japanese patients with metastatic germ cell tumors were treated with cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy, including bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin, and paclitaxel, ifosfamide and cisplatin. A total of 378 chemotherapy cycles administered for these 86 patients were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS: During the 378 cycles, consisting of 212 for bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin, and 166 for paclitaxel, ifosfamide and cisplatin, 81 episodes of febrile neutropenia (21.4%) developed in 34 patients (39.5%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that low estimated glomerular filtration rate and albumin levels were independent risk factors for the development of febrile neutropenia. Furthermore, a significant difference in the incidence of febrile neutropenia was noted according to positive numbers of these two independent risk factors; that is, febrile neutropenia occurred in 13 of 171 courses in patients negative for any risk factors (7.6%), 44 of 155 courses in those positive for a single risk factor (28.4%) and 24 of 52 courses in those positive for two risk factors (46.2%).

CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of febrile neutropenia in Japanese metastatic germ cell tumor patients receiving cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy appears to be higher than reported previously by studies in Western countries. When carrying out cytotoxic chemotherapy, special attention should be paid to patients with low estimated glomerular filtration rate and/or albumin levels considering the high probability of febrile neutropenia.