title: [Erythropoietin in hepatocellular carcinoma].
abstract: Hemopoietic alterations may occur during tumoral diseases, determining anemia. In most cases, serum EPO levels were lower than normal values. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most frequent malignancies world-wide, is often characterized by mild anemia and increased serum EPO levels. We studied 30 HCC patients and 20 healthy subjects. We found that HCC patients presented higher serum EPO levels than healthy controls. In HCC patients, there was a significant inverse correlation between serum EPO levels and red blood cell count or hemoglobin levels. We postulated that the elevated serum EPO levels observed in these patients may be due to reduced hepatic clearance of EPO, and to the influence of cytokine-mediated inflammatory factors.
authors.affiliation: Département de médecine interne et de gériatrie, Université des Etudes de Catania, Italie.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malaguarnera
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bentivegna
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Di Fazio
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laurino
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Trovato
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011086:Polycythemia / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D004921:Erythropoietin