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Anemia in Cancer: Some Pathophysiological Aspects

Haematology-Oncology, Luxembourg Medical Center, Luxembourg

Correspondence: Mario Dicato, M.D., Haematology-Oncology, Luxembourg Medical Center, L-1210 Luxembourg. Telephone: 352-4411-2084; Fax: 352-44-12-15; e-mail: dicato.mario{at}chl.lu

More than 30% of cancer patients experience anemia and its side effect, fatigue. Its causes can be numerous, but anemia is usually secondary to an imbalance of cytokines. Among these, tumor necrosis factor-alpha seems to be the major culprit, creating anemia by blunting the physiological effect of erythropoietin. Pharmacologically increasing the erythropoietin level corrects the anemia in about half the treated patients. Several studies have shown that quality of life is substantially improved through such therapy.

Key Words. Erythropoietin • TNF-alpha • Quality of life • Neoplasms

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