Once-weekly dosing of epoetin-alpha increases hemoglobin and improves quality of life in anemic cancer patients receiving radiation therapy either concomitantly or sequentially with chemotherapy.

Background: The current study was performed to prospectively evaluate the effectiveness, clinical outcomes, and safety of once-weekly (QW) recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO [epoetin-alpha]) in anemic cancer patients with nonmyeloid malignancies who were receiving radiation therapy (RT) concomitantly or sequentially with chemotherapy (CT).

Methods: A total of 777 anemic patients (hemoglobin [Hb] < or = 11 g/dL) were enrolled in this multicenter, open-label, nonrandomized, 16-week study. Patients initially received epoetin-alpha at a dose of 40,000 units (U) subcutaneously QW, escalating to a dose of 60,000 U QW if the Hb increased to < or = 1 g/dL after 4 weeks.