Effects of anemia correction with epoetin beta in patients receiving radiochemotherapy for advanced cervical cancer

Patients with cervical cancer frequently suffer from anemia. This two-stage, adaptive-design study investigated the effect of anemia correction with epoetin beta on treatment outcomes. Patients with stage IIB–IVA cervical cancer received radiochemotherapy (RCT) and were randomized to epoetin 150 IU/kg three times weekly (n = 34) or standard care (control; n = 40) for up to 12 weeks. Primary end point for stage 1 aimed to establish a correlation between anemia correction and treatment failure (no complete response or relapsing within 6 months after RCT initiation) as a proof of concept before moving into stage 2. Secondary end points included progression/relapse-free survival, overall surviv…