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Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents are associated with excess mortality when patients with chronic renal failure are treated to achieve near-normal target hemoglobin levels (JW Gen Med Feb 15 2007). But what about cancer patients? In this meta-analysis of 52 randomized trials that involved 12,000 patients with cancer-related anemia, Canadian researchers examined outcomes with epoetin (Procrit) or darbepoetin (Aranesp) compared with no treatment; only about 40% of trials included placebo controls. Most patients had received chemotherapy or radiotherapy before or during the trials.
During median follow-up of 1 year, all-cause mortality was significantly higher in the treatment groups than in the control groups (relative risk, 1.15); elevated mo…