| Title | Effectiveness of darbepoetin alfa versus epoetin alfa in patients with chemotherapy-induced anemia treated in clinical practice. | | Author(s) | Patton J, Reeves T, Wallace J | | Institution | Tennessee Oncology, 397 Wallace Road, Suite 201, Nashville, Tennessee 37211-8025, USA. jpatton@tnonc.com | | Source | Oncologist 2004; 9(4):451-8. | | MeSH | Adult
Aged
Anemia
Antineoplastic Agents
Comparative Study
Drug Administration Schedule
Epoetin Alfa
Erythropoietin
Female
Hematinics
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neoplasms
Retrospective Studies
Treatment Outcome
| | Abstract | PRIMARY
PURPOSE: The objective of this retrospective observational cohort study was to compare the effectiveness of darbepoetin alfa with that of epoetin alfa in patients with chemotherapy-induced anemia using data from noncontemporaneous chart audits conducted at a community-based oncology practice.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: For the first chart audit, data were collected from consecutive patients with nonmyeloid malignancies with diagnoses of chemotherapy-induced anemia and hemoglobin levels < or = 10.5 g/dl who were receiving concurrent chemotherapy and had at least 5 weeks of visits from July-September 2000. After therapeutic substitution of darbepoetin alfa for epoetin alfa for all patients with chemotherapy-induced anemia, data were collected from consecutive darbepoetin alfa-treated patients with diagnoses of chemotherapy-induced anemia and at least 8 weeks of visits from June-October 2002 (darbepoetin alfa was approved in July 2002).
RESULTS: Most (86%) of the 212 epoetin alfa-treated patients had received an initial dose of 40,000 U once weekly, and most (85%) of the 196 darbepoetin alfa-treated patients had received a fixed dose of either 100 microg once weekly (49%) or 200 microg every 2 weeks (36%). At 8 weeks, the mean change in hemoglobin level was 1.1 g/dl for the darbepoetin alfa patient group and 1.0 g/dl for the epoetin alfa patient group.
DISCUSSION: Utilization, dose escalation rates, and clinical outcomes were considered comparable for the darbepoetin alfa and epoetin alfa patient groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Darbepoetin alfa, 100 microg once weekly or 200 microg every 2 weeks, appears to be as effective as epoetin alfa, 40,000 U once weekly, for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced anemia in the clinical practice setting. | | Language | eng | | Pub Type(s) | Journal Article
| | PubMed ID | 15266098 |
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