6533b871fe1ef96bd12d2364

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Erythropoietin: effects on life expectancy in patients with cancer-related anaemia

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ABSTRACTAnaemia is common in patients with cancer and has a detrimental impact on the quality of life. Anaemia has also been shown to reduce survival in patients with cancer. Tumour hypoxia resulting from the reduced oxygen carrying capacity of the blood in anaemic patients has been hypothesised to be a major contributor to this reduced survival. Several studies have shown that tumour hypoxia reduces the effectiveness of anticancer therapies including standard radiotherapy and some types of chemotherapy, and is associated with tumour progression. Moreover, preclinical data have demonstrated that erythropoietic protein therapy may delay tumour progression by improving tumour oxygenation. Most studies suggest that erythropoietic therapy either improves survival or has no negative effect on survival when used to treat anaemia in patients with cancer. However, conflicting results suggest that additional studies are required in this area. In this regard, a recently completed study, BReast cancer – Anaemia and ...