Anemias and iron deficiency in cancer patients

Anemia is frequent in cancer patients and its incidence increases with chemotherapy. Anemia negatively impacts survival and accentuates fatigue in cancer patients. Cancer promotes inflammatory cytokine production, which suppresses erythropoiesis and erythropoietin production. Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents improve erythropoiesis and reduce transfusion needs in anemic cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. However, meta-analyses have shown an increased risk of thromboembolic events with еrythropoiesis-stimulating agents use during chemotherapy, but not increased on-study mortality or reduced overall survival. Inflammatory cytokine production in patients with cancer, reduce the availability of iron for effective erythropoiesis. This review summarises clinical consequences of iron deficiency and anaemia in cancer patients, mechanisms how impaired iron homeostasis affects diagnosis and treatment of iron deficiency, and data from clinical trials evaluating i.v. iron with or without concomitant erythropoiesis-stimulating agents.

• V.V. Ptushkin Federal Scientific and Clinical Centre of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology named after Dmitriy Rogachev, Moscow, Russian Federation ; ФГБУ «ФНКЦ Детской гематологии, онкологии и иммунологии им. Дмитрия Рогачева» Минздравсоцразвития, Москва, Российская Федерация

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