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ADRIAN L. GORAM, PHARM.D., is Clinical Pharmacist, Hematology/Oncology and Medicine, Sacred Heart Health System, Pensacola, FL, and Community Pharmacist, Pfeiffer Drugs, Pensacola.

Address correspondence to Dr. Goram at the Pharmacy, Pfeiffer Drugs, 2501 West Cervantes Street, Pensacola, FL 32505 (algoram{at}bellsouth.net).

Purpose. The effectiveness of every-three-week administration of darbepoetin alfa in women with chemotherapy-associated anemia was evaluated. Methods. Women receiving chemotherapy for gynecological tumors who had a hemoglobin concentration of <10 g/dL were recruited from an obstetrics and gynecology service. Study patients received subcutaneous darbepoetin alfa 6.75 µg/kg, followed by 4.5 µg/kg every three weeks for a total of up to six doses. Hematopoietic response and mean changes in hemoglobin concentrations were evaluated. The Functional Assessment in Cancer Therapy–Anemia (FACT-An) survey was self-administered before and after study completion to evaluate the patients’ quality of life. Results. The mean ± S.D. age and weight for the 14 patients recruited (12 of whom were assessable) were 52.1 ± 14 years and 64.6 ± 19.8 kg, respectively. The mean initial and maintenance doses were 442 and 301.6 µg, respectively. The overall hematopoietic response was 64.3%, of which 35.7% were complete and 28.6% were partial. Peak response occurred at weeks 9 and 12. The mean ± S.D. change in hemoglobin concentration was 1.6 ± 1.51 g/dL. Treatment failure was predicted by week 9 (n = 2). Maintenance doses were withheld if a patient’s hemoglobin concentration exceeded 12 g/dL (n = 3). The mean ± S.D. point differential for FACT-An pretreatment and posttreatment scores was 5.8 ± 4.71 (n = 6). Conclusion. Every-three-week administration of subcutaneous darbepoetin alfa produced a complete or partial hematopoietic response in 11 of 14 women with chemotherapy- associated anemia. A quality-of-life indicator generally improved among the 6 patients for whom posttreatment quality-of-life data were available. Index terms: Anemia; Antineoplastic agents; Darbepoetin alfa; Dosage schedules; Hematopoietic agents; Quality of life; Toxicity

 

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				R. J. Muller and D. Baribeault Extended-dosage-interval regimens of erythropoietic agents in chemotherapy-induced anemia Am. J. Health Syst. Pharm., December 15, 2007; 64(24): 2547 - 2556. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]