Erythropoietin for anemia treatment of patients with GIST receiving imatinib

9046 Background:Imatinib (Glivec®) is a c-kit tyrosine kinase inhibitor recently established as the standard treatment for advanced/metastatic GIST. Anemia is frequently observed in patients with advanced GIST, and is one of the most frequent side effects of imatinib (89% of patients) while this drug causes grade 3–4 anemia in 10% of patients. Whether EPO treatment is useful in the management of GIST patients receiving imatinib treatment is unknown. Methods:A retrospective study of EPO treatment in GIST patients receiving imatinib was undertaken in 4 centers. Thirty four patients received EPO treatment among the 319 GIST patients treated with imatinib in clinical trials or with compassionate use since 2001. The impact of EPO treatment on the anemia and the predictive factors of efficacy were investigated. Results:34 patients were included as follows: Male/Female=18/16; median age= 59 years; median WHO-PS= 1; metastatic/advanced GIST= 32/2. Original site of disease was mainly gastric (32%) and small bowel ...