The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 271 No 7272 p572
25 October 2003

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The Lancet (www.thelancet.com)

Avoid anaemia treatment in cancer

Treating anaemia with erythropoietin (epoetin beta) in patients with head and neck cancer might make their outcome worse, researchers say. They examined the effect of epoetin beta in 351 patients receiving radiotherapy and found that, despite successfully treating the anaemia, progression-free survival was poorer in patients given epoetin beta than in patients given placebo (Lancet 2003; 362:1255).