Onkológia 4/2015

Lipegfilgrastim − new drug form similar to filgrastim in treatment of neutropenia of oncologic patients

Lipegfilgrastim is new drug form similar to filgrastim, which has been available in the European Union (EU) for a number of years. In lipegfilgrastim, the filgrastim has been pegylated with polyethylene glycol. This decreases the rate at which filgrastim is removed from the body and allows the medicine to be given less often. The lipegfilgrastim is produced by a method recombinant DNA technology: it is made by bacteria into which a gene (DNA) has been introduced that makes the bacteria able to produce the filgrastim protein. Lipegfilgrastim is used to reduce the duration of neutropenia (low levels of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell) and the occurrence of febrile neutropenia (neutropenia with fever) in adult cancer patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy.

Keywords: neutropenia, febrile neutropenia, lipegfilgrastim, G-CSF.