Background and methodology of MONITOR-GCSF, a pharmaco-epidemiological study of the multi-level determinants, predictors, and clinical outcomes of febrile neutropenia prophylaxis with biosimilar granulocyte-colony stimulating factor filgrastim

Abstract 

The MONITOR-GCSF study is an international, prospective, observational, pharmaco-epidemiological study to evaluate the multi-level factors and outcomes associated with the use of Zarzio^® in the prophylaxis of febrile neutropenia in chemotherapy-treated cancer patients. Driven by a novel, integrated, multi-focal framework for post-approval observational studies, it examines determinants of response at both the patient and the physician level; integrates statistical methodologies from the social and behavioral sciences; assesses factors predictive of poor treatment response; and evaluates the congruence of treatment with EORTC guidelines and the approved label. This pan-European study will recruit at least 1000 patients from a minimum of 75 centers and follow them for maximum 6 cycles of chemotherapy. Apart from descriptive and associative procedures, statistical analysis will include variance attribution methods; hierarchical linear, logistic, and Poisson modeling; Kaplan–Meier time-to-event analysis, Mantel–Cox log-rank or generalized Wilcoxon–Breslow tests, and Cox proportional hazards modeling; and clustering and related data mining techniques.

Keywords: Febrile neutropenia, Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, Prophylaxis, Biosimilars, Pharmacoepidemiology, Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia