Evaluation of Epoetin Supplemented with Oral Iron in Patients with Solid Malignancies and Chronic Anemia not Receiving Anticancer Treatment

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and improvement in quality of life (QOL) of epoetin alfa administration supplemented with oral iron as a therapeutic regimen for patients with solid malignancies and anemia of chronic disease (ACD), not receiving chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Patients and Methods: A total of 100 patients with cancer-related anemia, not subjected to chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, were randomized to receive for a maximum of 24 weeks either oral iron, equivalent to 200 mg elemental iron once daily, or epoetin alfa 40,000 IU subcutaneously once weekly plus oral iron once daily. Results: Patients in the epoetin alfa group had, from baseline to study end, a mean increase in hemoglobin (Hb) levels of 2.4 g/dL, whereas in the control group the mean Hb level decreased by 0.1g/dL, (p