Epoetin beta (NeoRecormon) therapy in patients with solid tumours receiving platinum and non-platinum chemotherapy: a meta-analysis.

Background: Anaemia is a common complication of chemotherapy (CT), including both non-platinum (Pt)-based as well as Pt-based CT.

Patients And Methods: Patients from three controlled trials with solid tumours receiving either Pt- or non-Pt-based CT, who had been randomised to epoetin beta treatment or standard care, were included in this meta-analysis (n=255, n=199, respectively), to see if epoetin beta was equally effective in both CT types. The primary endpoint was haemoglobin (Hb) change. Secondary end-points included transfusion requirement, adverse events (AEs), survival, time to tumour progression and thromboembolic events (TEEs).

Results: All patients responded rapidly to epoetin beta treatment, showing a median Hb increase of > or = 1 g/dl from baseline at week 4. A median Hb of 12.2, 12.5 and 11.8 g/dl was achieved in all patients, those receiving Pt-based CT and those receiving non-Pt-based CT, respectively, after 16 weeks of treatment. Transfusion risk reductions associated with epoetin beta treatment of 53% (p<0.0001), 61% (p<0.0001) and 26% (non significant) were observed for all patients, Pt- and non-Pt-based CT patients, respectively. Overall, for all three populations, there were no risks identified for tumour progression or overall survival. There was a statistically non-significant incidence of TEEs (5.9% versus 4.5%) and no marked differences were observed between groups for frequency or type of AEs reported.

Conclusion: The type of CT has no impact on the ability of epoetin beta to rapidly increase Hb in patients with solid tumours and CT-induced anaemia.