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Table 1 Characteristics of the study population, the tumours, and the administered chemotherapy including toxicities

From: Multivariable regression analysis of febrile neutropenia occurrence in early breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy assessing patient-related, chemotherapy-related and genetic risk factors

Patient characteristics

Mean ± standard deviation or frequency (%)

Age at diagnosis (years) (n = 994)

50.4 ± 9.6

Body mass index (kg/m2) (n = 981)

24.9 ± 4.1

Body surface area (m2) (n = 993)

1.7 ± 0.1

Tumour characteristics

 

Tumor status

994 (100)

- Primary tumour

966 (97.2)

- Relapsed tumour

28 (2.8)

Tumour gradea

979 (98.5)

- 1

39 (4.0)

- 2

334 (34.1)

- 3

606 (61.9)

Tumour type

994 (100)

- Invasive ductal carcinoma

823 (82.8)

- Invasive lobular carcinoma

103 (10.4)

- Mixed

27 (2.7)

- Others

41 (4.1)

Tumour stageb

978 (98.4)

- I

113 (11.5)

- IIA

306 (31.3)

- IIB

245 (25.1)

- IIIA

193 (19.7)

- IIIB

44 (4.5)

- IIIC

77 (7.9)

Receptor status

 

- Estrogen receptor positive

683 (68.8)

- Progesterone receptor positive

577 (58.1)

- HER2 positive

205 (20.7)

Subtypec

981 (98.7)

- Luminal A

325 (33.1)

- Luminal B HER2-

234 (23.9)

- Luminal B HER2+

121 (12.3)

- HER2-like

84 (8.6)

- Triple negative

217 (22.1)

Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI)d (n = 757)

5.0 ± 0.9

Chemotherapy characteristics

 

Chemotherapy setting

994 (100)

- Adjuvant

874 (87.9)

- Neoadjuvant

120 (12.1)

Planned cycles of FEC chemotherapy

994 (100)

- 3 cycles FEC

559 (56.2)

- 4 or 5 cycles FEC

2 (0.2)

- 6 cycles FEC

433 (43.6)

Relative dose intensity (RDI) (n = 994)

0.96 ± 0.1

Growth factor use

994 (100)

- Primary

15 (1.5)

- Secondary

325 (32.7)

- None

654 (65.8)

Baseline laboratory parameters

 

White blood cell count (109/L) (n = 985)

7.2 ± 2.0

Absolute neutrophil count (109/L) (n = 937)

4.4 ± 1.6

Haemoglobin (g/dl) (n = 989)

13.3 ± 1.0

Platelets (109/L) (n = 985)

275.4 ± 65.1

Total bilirubin (mg/dl) (n = 915)

0.4 ± 0.2

Creatinine (mg/dl) (n = 957)

0.8 ± 0.1

Alanine aminotransferase (U/L) (n = 955)

23.3 ± 15.3

Aspartate aminotransferase (U/L) (n = 955)

21.9 ± 11.1

FEC chemotherapy toxicities

 

Febrile neutropenia

166 (16.7)

- Febrile neutropenia in first cycle

107 (10.7)

Prolonged (≥ 5 days) grade 4 neutropenia

345 (34.7)

Deep neutropenia (< 100/μl)

93 (9.4)

Other grade 3–4 toxicities

46 (4.6)

  1. FEC, fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide; HER2, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2.
  2. aAccording to the Ellis and Elston grading system [23].
  3. bAccording to the TNM classification [24].
  4. cAccording to Brouckaert et al. [25].
  5. dAccording to Lee et al. [26].