Journal of the National Cancer Institute
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J. Natl. Cancer Inst. · Apr 2005
Review Meta AnalysisRecombinant human erythropoietin and overall survival in cancer patients: results of a comprehensive meta-analysis.
Anemia associated with cancer and cancer therapy is an important clinical and economic factor in the treatment of malignant diseases. ⋯ Erythropoietin treatment may reduce the risk for blood transfusions and improve hematologic response in cancer patients. However, our favorable survival outcome is in contrast to two large (N = 351 and 939) recently published randomized controlled trials in which erythropoietin-treated patients had statistically significantly worse survival than untreated patients. Possible reasons for the disparity with our results include differences in study population and design, higher target hemoglobin levels and higher risk of thromboembolic complications, and concerns that erythropoietin may stimulate tumor growth.