Incidence and risk factors of anemia in patients with early breast cancer treated by adjuvant chemotherapy.

Background: The study's objective was to assess the predictive factors of anemia induced by chemotherapy in early breast cancer patients.

Patients And Methods: Patients treated by adjuvant or neo-adjuvant anthracyclin-based regimens with or without taxanes between 1998 and 2006 in a French university hospital were studied. Chemotherapy included. Anemia was defined as a hemoglobin (Hb) concentration lower than 12 g/dL. Multivariate analysis by logistic regression was used to search for baseline risk factors linked to the occurrence of anemia.

Results: Among 378 patients, anemia was observed in 64% of cases. The occurrence of anemia was significantly related to 6 risk factors: exposure to taxanes (HR 11.5, 95% CI, 2.5-52.6), high dose of anthracyclin (epirubicin 100 mg/m²)(HR 4.3; 95% CI, 2.8-8), Hb at baseline < 13.5 g/d (HR 4.3; 95% CI, 2.6-7.1), mastectomy (HR 2.5; 95% CI, 1.4-3.3), age >60 (HR 2.5; 95% CI, 1.4-5) years old (HR 2.5; 95% CI, 1.4-5) and Body Mass Index (BMI) ≤ 25 kg/m² (HR 1.7; 95% CI, 1.0-2.8).

Conclusion: Taking into account the following factors: type of chemotherapy, BMI, age, Hb at baseline should allow a better identification of patients at risk of anemia.