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NEUPOGEN®
NEUPOGEN solution for injection contains the active ingredient filgrastim.
Filgrastim is a copy of a substance normally present in your body, called Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor or G-CSF.
G-CSF is produced in the bone marrow and assists in the production of neutrophils, which are a type of white blood cell. Neutrophils help the body fight infections by surrounding and destroying the bacteria that cause them. G-CSF also helps neutrophils to be more effective. NEUPOGEN does not cure the underlying illness but it is an important supportive therapy.
Your doctor may have prescribed NEUPOGEN because:
- you are receiving chemotherapy for cancer
Some chemotherapy will reduce the number of neutrophils in your body. Although NEUPOGEN is not a treatment for cancer, it does help the body to make new neutrophils, and this will reduce your chance of developing infections that might require treatment with antibiotics and/or hospital stays. NEUPOGEN may also help to keep your chemotherapy treatment on schedule.
- you are receiving a bone marrow or stem cell transplant
Blood cells are produced in the bone marrow and arise from special 'parent' cells, called stem cells. Some chemotherapy has toxic effects on bone marrow, so your doctor may choose to collect stem cells from your bone marrow or blood before you receive your chemotherapy or from a donor's bone marrow or blood. These collected stem cells are then stored and may be given to you later to replace those lost during chemotherapy.
There are normally only a small number of stem cells in your blood; NEUPOGEN is typically used to increase this number before stem cell collection. You may also receive NEUPOGEN after a bone marrow or stem cell transplant, to help speed up your recovery.
- you are donating stem cells for another person
If you are aged between 16 and 60 years and have volunteered to donate your stem cells for another person, NEUPOGEN may be used to increase the number of stem cells in your blood before they are collected. Your stem cells can then be given to the person after he/she has received their chemotherapy.
- you are suffering from severe chronic neutropenia
Severe chronic neutropenia is a condition in which the body does not make enough neutrophils, increasing your risk of fever and/or infection. NEUPOGEN helps the body to make and maintain the right number of infection-fighting neutrophils, decreasing the risk of infection and the need for antibiotics and/or hospital stays.
- you are receiving medicines for HIV infection
Some medicines used to treat HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infection, or its complications, can reduce the number of infection-fighting neutrophils in your blood. Your doctor may prescribe NEUPOGEN if the number of neutrophils falls too low.
By boosting your neutrophil count, NEUPOGEN will improve your body's ability to fight infection and may increase your chance of receiving the full dose of some of your HIV medicines. NEUPOGEN is not a treatment for HIV infection.
Your doctor, however, may have prescribed NEUPOGEN for another purpose.
NEUPOGEN is not addictive. This medicine is available only with a doctor's prescription.
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