The application of recombinant human erythropoietin in anemia associated with malignancy

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) in anemia associated with malignancy.Methods Ten bone marrow samples including five cases of normal and five cases of anemia associated with malignancy were studied in vitro by culturing colony forming unit - erythroid CFU - E) with rHuEPO stimulating. Forty five patients with gynecologic oncology were enrolled onto clinical study, which were divided into study group with twenty three cases and control group with twenty two cases. Results The CFU - E of bone marrow from malignant group increased obviously and matched the results of normal group after large dose of rHuEPO stimulating. In clinical study, hemoglobin of patients in study group increased at two weeks after application of rHuEPO, whereas hemoglobin decreased progressively in most control cases. Effectiveness rate of rHuEPO was 72.2% in average dose of (169.69±38.82) U/kg/wk.Conclusions The rHuEPO is an effective drug in the treatment of anemia associated with malignancy.