Abstract: Background and purpose: CHOP (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, prednisone) is the standard chemotherapy regimen for aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), which has a 10%-20% rate of febrile neutropenia (FN). Recently, pegylated recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor (PEG-rhG-CSF) is frequently used in clinical practice. Our study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of prophylactic PEG-rhG-CSF in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma on CHOP-based chemotherapy. Methods: In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 75 patients. of whom 36 received primary prophylaxis, 39 received secondary prophylaxis. All patients completed their treatment and were included in data analysis. Results: In primary prophylaxis group, 52.8% patients did not have grade 4 or FN and 63.9% completed their treatment without dose reduction. In secondary prophylaxis group, 61.5% patients did not have grade 4 or FN and 66.7% completed their treatment without dose reduction. Multivariate analysis showed that old age (≥65 years) and stage 3/4 were independent factors for serious neutropenia and dose reduction. In regard to the safety profiles, transient grade 1-2 lumbosacral pain was the main adverse effect. Conclusion: Prophylactic use of PEG-rhG-CSF is not only convenient but also efficacious and well tolerated. Therefore, its routine clinical application is recommended.

Key words: Pegylated recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor, Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, CHOP, Neutropenia, Febrile neutropenia