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Anemia of cancer in intermediate-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
Thomas J Morrow1, Salvatore Volpe, Sanjay Gupta
1One Health Plan, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Background:
Current literature suggests that anemia at baseline is an important adverse prognostic factor for lymphoma-related outcomes. We evaluated the prevalence, risk factors, and prognostic value of anemia in patients with intermediate-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (IGNHL) treated in a community-based practice.
Methods:
The retrospective sample included 591 patients who had IGNHL diagnosed between 1993 and 1999 and who were subsequently treated with CHOP chemotherapy. Anemia was defined as a hemoglobin (Hb) value < 12 g/dL.
Results:
Anemia was present in 193 of 546 patients (35.3%). Baseline anemia was significantly associated with age > 60, extranodal sites > or = 2, Ann Arbor stage III or IV, elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level, B symptoms, and histology type. Baseline Hb was also a significant predictor of nonresponse to chemotherapy.
Conclusions:
Our study results support previous findings of a high prevalence of anemia in cancer patients before cytotoxic therapy and the adverse impact that baseline anemia has on response to chemotherapy.