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Does Neulasta cause bone pain?

Medically reviewed by Melisa Puckey, BPharm. Last updated on July 22, 2024.

Official Answer by Drugs.com

Yes, Neulasta can cause the side effect of bone pain. Bone pain is considered to be a very common side effect of Neulasta:

Why does Neulasta cause bone pain?

Neulasta (pegfilgrastim) can be used to increase the neutrophil levels by stimulating production, maturation, activation and release of neutrophils from the bone marrow.

Because Neulasta has its clinical effect within the bone marrow, it is these changes that also causes the side effects of bone pain, skeletal pain and medullary bone pain.

Neulasta is thought to cause bone pain by affecting:

Patients undergoing chemotherapy often have a decrease in neutrophils (a type of white blood cell that fights infection) which makes them susceptible to infections. These patients can take Neulasta to help increase neutrophil levels, to help reduce infection risk.

How long does bone pain last from Neulasta?

Reliable information on how long bone pain from Neulasta lasts is not easily available.
In the NOLAN study of bone pain caused by Neulasta

This study only measured pain up to day 5, when there was still a high level of pain and pain had not yet returned to pre-treatment levels.

In another study patients' pain levels were measured before Neulasta treatment, then 8 days after treatment and the results showed

These studies indicate that bone pain from Neulasta lasts at least 8 days for almost half of the patients, and bone pain is likely to last a lot longer for a number of patients.

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Read next

What is the difference between Udenyca and Neulasta?

Udenyca (pegfilgrastim-cbqv) and Neulasta (pegfilgrastim) are both biological drugs containing pegfligrastim.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Udencya as a biosimilar of Neulasta, which means it is "highly similar to, and has no clinically meaningful differences from" Neulasta - it is just as safe and effective and used in the same way. The two drugs, however, are not interchangeable. Continue reading

What does cbqv stand for in pegfilgrastim?

The “cbqv” suffix is found in the biosimilar name for Udenyca (pegfilgrastim-cbqv), a biologic drug used to prevent neutropenia (a lack of certain white blood cells) caused by receiving chemotherapy. The suffix is used to distinguish its name from the original reference product, in this case Neulasta (pegfilgrastim), which has no suffix. The suffix on biosimilars helps healthcare providers and patients realize the medicine is an approved biosimilar, but the suffix has no specific meaning itself. Continue reading

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