A METHOD FOR PREDICTING THE NEED FOR DOSE REDUCTIONS IN CHEMOTHERAPY FOR PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER: A POTENTIAL DECISION AID FOR THE USE OF MYELOID GROWTH FACTORS

摘要

The invention provides provided a method and instrument for predicting the probability of a patient requiring a significant dose reduction in adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer and/or predicting whether early treatment with a myeloid growth factor is warranted, by determining the patient's dose-adjusted nadir absolute neutrophil count (ANC) in the first cycle of the chemotherapy schedule, further determining the patient's dose-adjusted percent change in platelet count from day one to the dose-adjusted nadir platelet count in the first cycle of the chemotherapy schedule, and then calculating the probability that the patient will receive a suboptimal chemotherapy dose using the dose-adjusted nadir ANC and dose-adjusted percent change in platelet count.