LOS ANGELES—Progress in treating cancer-related anemia has accelerated in the almost 20 years since the human erythropoietin(Drug information on erythropoietin) gene was cloned. That was in 1983. Ten years later, the Food and Drug Administration approved epoetin alfa(Drug information on epoetin alfa) (Epogen, Procrit) for transfusion-preventing treatment of patients with anemia-complicating therapy.
Target hemoglobin levels "have been increasing as we get out of the transfusion age into the erythropoietic therapy age, and the perceived benefits in clinical trials have been increasing at the same time," reported John Glaspy, MD, MPH. He predicted that as new data emerge, "we are going to be able to demonstrate that normalizing hemoglobin is associated with improvements in other endpoints beyond quality of life, including survival in cancer patients and disease progression in patients with other chronic inflammatory diseases."
Dr. Glaspy is medical director of the Boyer Oncology Clinic and professor of medicine at the University of California School of Medicine in Los Angeles. He served as co-chair of the Fifth Quality of Life in Oncology Symposium.
"Much of our current knowledge of the biological and clinical significance of erythropoiesis grew out of research on patients with renal failure," Dr. Glaspy noted. "This is a much simpler model of anemia than cancer is, and it has given us incredible insights," although too often these have been ignored.
Cancer Patients Benefit
Since 2000, more attention has been focused on cancer-related anemia and its effect on patients’ quality of life. Studies, including controlled trials, ultimately demonstrated that cancer patients receiving human recombinant erythropoietin (rHuEPO) had improved quality of life and functional status.
Supporting data from three community-based studies show cumulative increases in the linear analogue self-assessment (LASA) QOL score over time as hemoglobin levels rise from 7 to 13 or 14 g/dL in patients treated with erythropoietic therapy. "Unlike what we in cancer research thought was the case, there appears to be a continued gain as we go from 10 to 13 g/dL," Dr. Glaspy noted.
