West Cancer Center's Executive Director, Lee Schwartzberg, MD, FACP presented key findings from a phase III study to the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) during its annual meeting held in Vienna, Austria. He was lead investigator for the study titled "Eflapegrastim is Safe and Effective in Reducing Severe Neutropenia in Patients Receiving Myelosuppressive Chemotherapy in a Phase 3 Randomized, Controlled Trial Compared to Pegfilgrastim."

The objective was to demonstrate the non-inferiority (NI) of eflapegrastim to pegfilgrastim, with findings that concluded eflapegrastim was safe and well-tolerated with a similar safety profile to pegfilgrastim. This is good news for patients receiving chemotherapy, who many times deal with Neutropenia, a low level of neutrophils (a type of white blood cell). While all white blood cells help fight infection, neutrophils in particular help destroy harmful bacteria and fungi that can be a serious concern for cancer patients. The time between chemotherapy treatments can be prolonged for a person with severe neutropenia, so reducing the duration (DSN) can positively impact a patient's treatment.

In summary, the patients who received eflapegrastim had a mean DSN of .19 or .478 days vs. .34 or .668 days for pegfilgrastim. Dr. Schwartzberg hosted an international conference call on Friday, June 29th to discuss the study's outcome. Just one more example of the tremendous impact our physicians at West Cancer Center are having on cancer research that impact patients globally. ​

Those interested in viewing the presentation and listening to the webinar, should visit http://investor.sppirx.com/events-and-presentations