Erythropoietin and treatment of cancer-associated malignant anemia

Abstract

Cancer anemia, which is known as the malignant anemia associated with cancer, is one of the clinical symptoms of cancer and occurs in about half of cancer patients. Malignant tumor anemia is a common complication in various malignant tumors. In this anemia, the destruction of red blood cells leads to a decrease in access of tissues to oxygen leading to a reduced sensitivity of tumors to treatments such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and thus reduced quality of life in patients, reduced survival time and impact on the cancer prognosis. So, that the mortality rate in patients with anemia is two times higher than the patients without anemia during three years after diagnosis of cancer. Despite the fact that some studies have found that erythropoietin may improve symptoms of cancer-related anemia, this issue is still controversial in scientific literature and sessions.