Evaluation of clinical use of darbepoetin alfa in patients with chemotherapy-induced anemia

e20585 Background: Chemotherapy-induced anemia (CIA) is a frequent complication of patients (pts) with cancer and could be treated with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents such darbepoetin alfa (DA). The aim of this study was to investigate the patterns of use and effect of DA to treat CIA in clinical practice conditions. Methods: This was an observational, retrospective, multicenter study performed in 58 Spanish centres. Eligible pts were ≥18 yrs, diagnosed with non-myeloid malignancies and treated with chemotherapy (CT) and DA from October 2005 to October 2006. Data on demographic and clinical characteristics, CT and radiotherapy (RT), DA administration, red blood cell (RBC) transfusions, and haemoglobin (Hb) levels were collected from DA treatment initiation up to a maximum of 16 weeks or until treatment discontinuation. Results: A total of 685 pts were included in the study. Median age was 64.66 years (range 18.54–88.95), 50.7% were women, 74.11% had ECOG status 0–1 and 71.38% had stage III/IV cancer. Solid tumours represented 72.55% of the cases. The CT regimen included platinum derivates in 33.58% of the pts. At DA initiation, mean (SD) Hb was 10.00 g/dL (1.05) Administration of DA every three weeks occurred in 54.01% of the pts. Mean (SD) DA administration was 9.20 weeks (5.31). Hematopoietic response (defined as Hb ≥ 12 g/dL or Hb rise from baseline >2 g/dL in the absence of RBC transfusions during the previous 28 days) occurred in 63.24% (95% CI 59.49–66.83) of pts. A total of 88 pts (12.85%) required RBC transfusions from week 5 to end of treatment. Mean Hb (SD) at the end of treatment with DA was 11.36 g/dL (1.73). Adverse event (AE) potentially related to DA were reported in 20 pts (2.92%) and considered severe in 6 cases (0.88%). Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that the use of DA for the treatment of CIA in real-life, daily oncology and haematology practice, is well-tolerated and effective for increasing haemoglobin to reduce the need of RBC transfusions. [Table: see text]