title: Subcutaneous recombinant human erythropoietin for the treatment of anemia in myelodysplastic syndromes.
abstract: Recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) was administered subcutaneously to 13 anemic (Hb < 10 g/dl) patients with myelodysplasia (MDS). rhEPO was given 3 times a week at doses of 75-250 U/kg body weight, over a maximum period of 24 weeks. Five patients (38%) showed a response to rhEPO treatment. rhEPO was well tolerated and without relevant side effects throughout the study. All responding patients had low but detectable pretreatment circulating erythroid progenitor cells (BFU-E) and the response to rhEPO was associated with a significant increase in BFU-E (p < 0.01); concentrations of serum transferrin receptor (TfR) also consistently rose in all responding patients. Baseline erythropoietin (EPO) concentrations did not significantly differ between responders and nonresponders, although 4 out of the 5 responders had relatively low levels of EPO. In conclusion, subcutaneous rhEPO administration appears to be an effective treatment of anemia in a substantial subset of patients with MDS. Relatively low baseline EPO concentrations, detectable pretreatment circulating BFU-E and an early increase in the serum concentrations of TfR seem to be criteria for predicting response to rhEPO in patients with MDS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghio
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Balleari
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ballestrero
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Gatti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mareni
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Massa
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Patrone
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sessarego
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Timitilli
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000740:Anemia / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D015672:Erythroid Precursor Cells / Q000473:pathology; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D011990:Receptors, Transferrin; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D004921:Erythropoietin