Epoetin beta (NeoRecormon) therapy in patients with solid tumours receiving platinum and non-platinum chemotherapy: a...

Anaemia is a common complication of chemotherapy (CT), including both non-platinum (Pt)-based as well as Pt-based CT.

Patients from three controlled trials with solid tumours receiving either Pt- or non-Pt-based CT, who had been randomised to epoetin beta treatment or standard care, were included in this meta-analysis (n=255, n=199, respectively), to see if epoetin beta was equally effective in both CT types. The primary endpoint was haemoglobin (Hb) change. Secondary end-points included transfusion requirement, adverse events (AEs), survival, time to tumour progression and thromboembolic events (TEEs).

All patients responded rapidly to epoetin beta treatment, showing a median Hb increase of > or = 1 g/dl from baseline at week 4. A median Hb of 12.2, 12.5 and 11.8 g/dl was achieved in all patients, those receiving Pt-based CT and those receiving non-Pt-based CT, respectively, after 16 weeks of treatment. Transfusion risk reductions associated with epoetin beta treatment of 53% (p<0.0001), 61% (p<0.0001) and 26% (non significant) were observed for all patients, Pt- and non-Pt-based CT patients, respectively. Overall, for all three populations, there were no risks identified for tumour progression or overall survival. There was a statistically non-significant incidence of TEEs (5.9% versus 4.5%) and no marked differences were observed between groups for frequency or type of AEs reported.

The type of CT has no impact on the ability of epoetin beta to rapidly increase Hb in patients with solid tumours and CT-induced anaemia.