Epoetin alfa in platinum-treated ovarian cancer patients: results of a multinational, multicentre, randomised trial

Abstract

This multicentre, open-label, controlled clinical trial assessed the effects of epoetin alfa treatment on haematologic and quality of life (QOL) parameters in 182 anaemic (Hbp12 g dl À1 ) ovarian cancer patients receiving platinum chemotherapy. Patients were randomised 2 : 1 to receive epoetin alfa 10 000 -20 000 IU three times weekly plus best standard treatment (BST) or BST only. Main study end points were changes from baseline in haemoglobin (Hb) level, transfusion requirements, and QOL. For the epoetin alfa group, mean Hb increased by 1.8 g dl À1 by weeks 4 -6 and was significantly increased from baseline through study end (Po0.001). The mean change in Hb from baseline was significantly (Po0.001) greater for epoetin alfa than BST patients at all postbaseline evaluations. Significantly fewer epoetin alfa than BST patients required transfusion(s) after the first 4 weeks of treatment (7.9 vs 30.5%; Po0.001). Also, significant (Pp0.04) differences favouring the epoetin alfa group over the BST group were found for all three median CLAS scores (Energy Level, Ability to Do Daily Activities, Overall QOL) and the median average CLAS score during chemotherapy. These findings support use of epoetin alfa to increase Hb levels, reduce transfusion use, and improve QOL in anaemic ovarian cancer patients receiving platinum chemotherapy.

Impact of erythropoietin treatment on the quality of life of oncologic patients

“…A randomised study on 182 patients with ovarian cancer under chemotherapy and erythropoietin alpha TTW or the best possible treatment reports benefits on QOL for the group under treatment, where these benefits are attributed to increments observed in the LASA scale (p ( ( =0.004) [32].…”

Impact of Hematopoietic Growth Factors on Blood Transfusion Needs, Incidence of Neutropenia, and Overall Survival Among Elderly Advanced Ovarian Cancer Patients Treated With Chemotherapy

“…Additional studies incorporating costs and patient quality of life are needed. 21 †Extended Cox model with 2 heaviside functions. 18 ‡Cox proportional hazards model.…”

Anaemia management with epoetin alfa in lung cancer patients in The Netherlands

“…In a recent review it has been suggested that optimal clinical benefit from erythropoietic treatment of chemotherapy-induced anaemia may be achieved through early intervention [39]. Previous studies defined an epoetin alfa start at Hb < 12.1 g/dl as early intervention [30][31][32]. In case early intervention is used, it is to be recommended that Hb levels are closely monitored since two recent publications concerning erythropoietin treatment in cancer patients with mild anaemia described increased mortality in the erythropoietin treated patients [40,41].…”

“…In literature, often response is defined as an Hb increase ≥2 g/dl independent of any blood transfusion in the 4 weeks before response was reached (response-1) [5,6,8,10,27]. In recent studies response was defined as an Hb increase ≥1 g/dl, independent of blood transfusions, after 4 weeks epoetin alfa treatment (response-2) [24,[28][29][30]. Both these response definitions were retrospectively applied to the epoetin alfa treated lung cancer patients in this observational study.…”