Managing Anemia in the Cancer Patient: Old Problems, Future Solutions

Author Michael S. Gordon from the Arizona Health Sciences Center, University of Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona, USA discusses anemia and associated symptoms that commonly manifest in cancer patients that may have a considerable impact on outcomes.

Preliminary studies suggest that overall survival and locoregional control following radiation therapy may be compromised by anemia, and recent preliminary data also suggest that anemia may be related to poorer outcomes following chemotherapy.

Health-related quality of life of cancer patients is also significantly reduced by anemia. However, despite this knowledge, anemia remains under-recognised and under-treated in the cancer patient population.

A number of issues may be determinants of this suboptimal management of anemia. These include:

• limitations of current therapies for anemia
• varying practice strategies
• the lack of guidelines on how to treat anemia.

Additionally, clinicians may underestimate the importance of health-related quality of life for their patients.
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