Source: Intensive Care Medicine  |  Posted 8 years ago

Epoetin beta given once weekly is an effective and safe treatment for anaemia in patients with lymphoproliferative malignancy and defective endogenous erythropoietin production, say Italian researchers.

The guidelines of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Society of Haematology recommend epoetin as a treatment option for patients having chemotherapy-associated anaemia (Hb <10 g/dL) and advise subcutaneous administration of 150 U/kg three times weekly.

In a previous uncontrolled, non-randomised community-based study, results indicated that epoetin alpha administered at 40,000 IU produced therapeutic effects similar to a conventional regimen. Because a once-weekly regimen offers potential cost savings, Mario Cazzola, MD, Division of Haematology, IRCCS Policlinico S. Matteo, Pavia and colleagues conducted a prospective, randomised trial to compare the efficacy of once weekly and thrice weekly regimens.

The researchers randomised a population of 241 anaemic patients with multiple myeloma, low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, to receive epoetin beta once weekly (119 patients, 30 000 IU dosage) or three times weekly (122 patients, 10 000 dosage) over 16 weeks.

Epoetin beta was administered by patients using the RecoPen