Background/aim: Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a potentially life-threatening complication of chemotherapy. In this study, we evaluated the predictors for FN according to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in all breast cancer subtypes.
Patients and methods: We examined 327 patients with breast cancer treated with NAC. The correlation between the development of FN and clinicopathological features, including systemic inflammatory markers, and prognosis was evaluated retrospectively.
Results: There were no significant differences between patients with and without FN in terms of disease-free survival or overall survival (p=0.562, p=0.149, log-rank, respectively). Low body mass index (BMI) (p<0.001), white blood cells (WBC) at baseline (p=0.008), and NAC regimen (p=0.026) significantly related with FN in all patients with breast cancer. Moreover, among patients with hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive breast cancer, low WBC (p=0.007) and low absolute lymphocyte counts (ALC) at baseline (p=0.039) were significantly associated with FN, and overall survival was significantly worse in patients with FN development (p=0.039, log-rank).
Conclusion: Poor immune activity-related factors, low ALC or BMI, may be useful to predict the development of FN in patients with breast cancer.
Keywords: Febrile neutropenia; breast cancer; neoadjuvant chemotherapy; risk factors.
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