Therapeutic use of erythropoietin in dermatooncology.

Erythropoietin has been successfully used in Europe since 1997 in the treatment of anemia induced by chemotherapy of solid tumors. There is only limited experience with regard to its use when treating dermatologic tumors such as metastatic melanoma. We review here current guidelines on the use of erythropoietin in cancer patients and report on our own melanoma patients treated with erythropoietin for chemotherapy-induced anemia.