To study the effects of delaying pegfilgrastim administration following high-dose cytarabine (HiDAC) consolidation in AML patients on time to neutrophil count recovery, infectious complications, and survival.

Single-center retrospective chart review of 55 patients receiving pegfilgrastim as early administration (within 72 h) or delayed administration (after 72 h) of HiDAC.

The difference in neutrophil recovery time was similar between the early and delayed groups (18 days versus 19 days, p < 0.28). Infections were seen in four patients in the early administration group following chemotherapy compared to none in the delayed group (p = 0.04). Febrile neutropenia rates were also decreased in the delayed administration group (23.1% versus 10.3%, p = 0.28) as well as a trend towards longer median survival (16 months versus 19 months, p = 0.69) and overall survival (21 months versus 31 months, p = 0.47).

A difference in time to neutrophil recovery was not observed between the early and delayed administration groups yet decreased infectious complications may support the delayed administration of pegfilgrastim in these patients.