Lenograstim: a review of its use in chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, for acceleration of neutrophil recovery following haematopoietic stem cell transplantation and in peripheral blood stem cell mobilization

Abstract

Lenograstim (Granocyte®, Neutrogin®, Myelostim®) is a glycosylated recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. This article reviews the pharmacological properties, therapeutic efficacy and tolerability of lenograstim, mainly focusing on its use in chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, acceleration of neutrophil recovery following haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), and peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) mobilization in patients with cancer and healthy donors. In randomized, multicentre trials in patients with solid tumours, lymphoma or multiple myeloma, the durations of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, hospitalization for infection and intravenous antibacterial therapy were significantly shorter in patients receiving lenograstim prophylaxis than in those receiving placebo. The time to neutrophil recovery was also significantly shorter in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia or acute lymphoblastic leukaemia who received lenograstim than in those who received placebo or no treatment, according to the results of randomized, multicentre trials. In addition, lenograstim prophylaxis facilitated the administration of dose-intense or dose-dense chemotherapy regimens, with improved clinical outcomes seen in some trials. In patients with cancer undergoing HSCT, lenograstim accelerated neutrophil recovery post-HSCT and shortened the duration of hospitalization, according to the results of randomized, multicentre trials. Lenograstim effectively mobilized PBSCs in patients with cancer, demonstrating generally similar efficacy to filgrastim or molgramostim in five randomized trials (although lower dosages of lenograstim than filgrastim were administered in four of the trials). Lenograstim also provided effective PBSC mobilization in healthy donors and was more effective than filgrastim when both drugs were administered at a dosage of 10 μg/kg/day. The efficacy and safety of lenograstim for PBSC mobilization in healthy donors was supported by the results of a prospective, longer-term study involving almost 4000 healthy donors. Lenograstim was generally well tolerated across a variety of treatment settings, including PBSC mobilization in healthy donors, with bone pain being one of the most commonly reported adverse events. In conclusion, lenograstim remains an important option for use in chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, acceleration of neutrophil recovery following HSCT, and PBSC mobilization.