Relationship between monocytopenia and neutropenia during concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and cervical cancer / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To evaluate whether the decrease in peripheral blood monocyte count was a potential predictor for neutropenia in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and cervical cancer.Methods:The medical records of 95 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and cervical carcinoma who received intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) combined with paclitaxel liposomes and platinum (TP) synchronous chemotherapy and presented with neutropenia in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from January 2017 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Paired sample t-test was used to assess whether the number of days when the monocytes initially dropped/decreased to lowest level/eventually increased to normal value was significantly less than those of the neutrophils. In addition, the chi-square test was performed to determine the correlation between the degree of reduction in the absolute neutrophil count (ANC) and baseline absolute monocyte count (AMC). Results:The change trend of AMC was consistent with that of ANC in the two cycles of concurrent chemotherapy. The number of days when AMC initially decreased/decreased to the lowest level/finally increased to normal value was significantly less than that of ANC (4 d vs. 6 d, 4 d vs. 10 d, P<0.001; 5 d vs. 6 d, 6 d vs. 9 d, 7 d vs. 12 d, P<0.001). However, no correlation was found between the baseline level of monocytes and the degree of subsequent neutropenia [(AMC<0.4×10 9) vs.( AMC≥0.4×10 9)=32 vs. 63, P=0.172]. Conclusions:Decreased monocyte count is an important potential predictor for neutropenia and a significant indicator for guiding the next monitoring of neutrophil count and treatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.