Fever, Sweats, and Hot Flashes, Neutropenia, Unspecified Childhood Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific
Conditions
Keywords
unspecified childhood solid tumor, protocol specific, fever, sweats, and hot flashes, neutropenia
Brief summary
RATIONALE: Antibiotics may decrease the side effects of neutropenia and fever caused by chemotherapy. Colony-stimulating factors such as G-CSF may increase the number of immune cells found in bone marrow or peripheral blood and may help a person's immune system recover from the side effects of chemotherapy. It is not yet known whether antibiotic therapy plus G-CSF is more effective than antibiotic therapy alone for treating side effects caused by chemotherapy. PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy with or without G-CSF in treating children who have neutropenia and fever that are caused by chemotherapy.
Detailed description
OBJECTIVES: * Determine whether filgrastim (G-CSF) used in addition to standard antibiotic therapy accelerates time to resolution of febrile neutropenia in children receiving chemotherapy. OUTLINE: This is a randomized study. Patients are randomized to one of two treatment arms. * Arm I: Patients receive standard antibiotic therapy. * Arm II: Patients receive treatment as in arm I. Patients also receive filgrastim (G-CSF) subcutaneously or IV once a day until at least 2 consecutive afebrile days have passed and absolute neutrophil count is at least 500/mm3. Patients are followed for 3 days. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 200 patients (100 per treatment arm) will be accrued for this study.
Interventions
Sponsors
Study design
Eligibility
Inclusion criteria
DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: * Histologically diagnosed cancer with fever and chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count no greater than 500/mm3) * Acute onset of fever of at least 38.8 degrees Celsius that is not related to the administration of blood products or pyrogenic substances * No acute myelogenous leukemia * No myelodysplastic syndrome * No solid tumor with bone marrow involvement PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: * 21 and under Performance status: * Not specified Life expectancy: * Not specified Hematopoietic: * See Disease Characteristics Hepatic: * Creatinine less than 1.5 times upper limit of normal Renal: * Not specified Other: * No patients in septic shock * No prolonged fever of unknown origin PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: * No concurrent filgrastim (G-CSF) or sargramostim (GM-CSF) * See Chemotherapy Chemotherapy: * No prior or concurrent myeloablative chemoradiotherapy with bone marrow or peripheral stem cell rescue Endocrine therapy: * Not specified Radiotherapy: * See Chemotherapy * No prior radiotherapy to marrow reserves (i.e., craniospinal and/or pelvic irradiation) Surgery: * Not specified Other: * At least 7 days since prior IV antibiotics
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Time to Resolution of Febrile Neutropenia | — | Time to Resolution of Febrile Neutropenia (Days of antibiotic treatment until the resolution of febrile neutropenia): The time to resolution of febrile neutropenia is defined as the number of days elapsed before the first day with both a temperature of less than 38.0oC and an ANC of equal to or greater than 500/μL. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Incidence of Change of the Initial Empiric Antibiotic Treatment | — | The Incidence of Change of the Initial Empiric Antibiotic Treatment: Any change in the initial empiric broad spectrum antibiotic treatment made during the febrile neutropenia period. There may be changes made in the antibiotic(s) after the resolution of febrile neutropenia. |
Countries
Australia, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, United States