Efficiency of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESA) in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced anemia in patients with lung cancer (LC)

Chemotherapy (CT)-induced anemia is a frequent complication of LC, and often treated with ESA which stimulates red blood cell (RBC) formation. In this prospective observational study we compared the efficiency of 3 types of ESA: epoetin alfa (Eprex®), epoetin beta (NeoRecormon®) and darbepoetin (Aranesp®) vs control in anemic patients with LC. Patients (n=128, mean age 62.6 ± 8.9 years) receiving CT for stage III and IV LC inducing anemia (hemoglobin Hb level There was no significant difference between the 4 groups in term of anemia characteristics at inclusion. The mean Hb levels at baseline were: 10.2 g/dl in group 1, 9.9 g/dl in group 2, 10.1 g/dl in group 3 and 9.9 g/dl in group 4 (p=0.523). At 6 weeks the mean Hb level were: 9.3 g/dl in group 1, 10.6 g/dl in group 2, 11.4 g/dl in group 3 and 10.7 g/dl in group 4 without statistical difference among groups treated by ESA (p= 0.06) but with statistical difference between each treated group vs control (p All ESA increased Hb level in anemic patients with LC, with significant HR obtained only in a limited number of cases. In this study epoetin alfa was better in terms of efficiency than epoetin beta and darbepoetin.