Source: Pancreas  |  Posted 6 years ago

By Ed Susman

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- December 15, 2005 -- Patients undergoing treatment for cancer could be prevented from developing anemia and its complications by administering darbepoetin alfa on the same schedule as the anticancer drugs -- that is, once every 3 weeks.

"Most chemotherapy regimens are administered once every 3 weeks," said John Glaspy, MD, professor of hematology/oncology, University of California, Los Angeles, California. "Therefore, administration of darbepoetin alfa once every 3 weeks may enable the synchronization of anemia therapy with chemotherapy."

In a poster presentation here at the 28[^]th[] Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), Dr. Glaspy and colleagues reported that delivery of the anti-anemia drug on the same schedule as oncology treatments is not only practical and convenient for patients and doctors but also effective in preventing anemia.

The researchers compared an asynchronous treatment schedule among 43 patients to a synchronous schedule administered to 38 patients with various tumors -- breast cancers made up 47% of the asynchronous treatment group and 32% of the synchronous treatment group.

"Darbepoetin alfa administered every 3 weeks to cancer patients with chemotherapy-induced anemia appeared to be effective and well tolerated regardless of the timing of administration relative to chemotherapy," Dr. Glaspy said in his presentation December 10[^]th[].

"The serum concentration of darbepoetin alfa during the first 3 weeks of the study was similar for the synchronous and asynchronous dosing schedules," he said. "The efficacy of darbepoetin alfa Q3W was similar in patients with breast cancer compared with the total study population."

The primary endpoint of the study was mean change in hemoglobin from baseline by week 7. In both groups hemoglobin increased 2.5 g/dL, Dr. Glaspy reported.

"Patients with breast cancer frequently receive once-every-3-weekly dosing of chemotherapy regimens," he explained. "Thus, every-3-week administration of darbepoetin alfa may allow for 1-per-cycle dosing of all medications."

[Presentation title: Darbepoetin Alfa Administered Once Every Three Week Synchronously or Asynchronously With Every Three-Week Chemotherapy Improves Anemia in Breast Cancer Patients. Abstract 5035]