Background: Numerous reports on recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO, epoetin alfa) treatment of cancer-related anemia in adult patients have been published to date. These have shown that epoetin increases hemoglobin levels, significantly ameliorates symptoms of anemia, and improves adult patients' quality of life. Unfortunately, less is known about the impact of epoetin on anemia in pediatric cancer patients.
Procedure: It is the objective of this review to summarize and analyze data of clinical trials of epoetin treatment of anemia in pediatric cancer patients.
Results: A total of 15 studies were reviewed; eight were considered for detailed analysis and demonstrated important variabilities in study methods. Four of the eight were controlled, randomized trials and four were open label.
Conclusions: These studies suggested an overall beneficial effect of epoetin alfa for treating anemia in children with cancer. Three large, multicenter clinical trials of the efficacy and safety of epoetin alfa in anemic children with cancer are currently underway, one in Europe and two in North America.
Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.