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Effectiveness of Darbepoetin Alfa Versus Epoetin Alfa in Patients with Chemotherapy-Induced Anemia Treated in Clinical Practice

^a Tennessee Oncology, Nashville, Tennessee, USA; ^b Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, California, USA

Correspondence: Jeffrey Patton, M.D., Tennessee Oncology, 397 Wallace Road, Suite 201, Nashville, Tennessee 37211-8025, USA. Telephone: 615-333-2481; Fax 615-781-3923; e-mail: jpatton{at}tnonc.com

Primary Purpose. The objective of this retrospective observational cohort study was to compare the effectiveness of darbepoetin alfa with that of epoetin alfa in patients with chemotherapy-induced anemia using data from noncontemporaneous chart audits conducted at a community-based oncology practice.

Materials and Methods. For the first chart audit, data were collected from consecutive patients with nonmyeloid malignancies with diagnoses of chemotherapy-induced anemia and hemoglobin levels 10.5 g/dl who were receiving concurrent chemotherapy and had at least 5 weeks of visits from July-September 2000. After therapeutic substitution of darbepoetin alfa for epoetin alfa for all patients with chemotherapy-induced anemia, data were collected from consecutive darbepoetin alfa-treated patients with diagnoses of chemotherapy-induced anemia and at least 8 weeks of visits from June-October 2002 (darbepoetin alfa was approved in July 2002).

Results. Most (86%) of the 212 epoetin alfa-treated patients had received an initial dose of 40,000 U once weekly, and most (85%) of the 196 darbepoetin alfa-treated patients had received a fixed dose of either 100 µg once weekly (49%) or 200 µg every 2 weeks (36%). At 8 weeks, the mean change in hemoglobin level was 1.1 g/dl for the darbepoetin alfa patient group and 1.0 g/dl for the epoetin alfa patient group.

Discussion. Utilization, dose escalation rates, and clinical outcomes were considered comparable for the darbepoetin alfa and epoetin alfa patient groups.

Conclusions. Darbepoetin alfa, 100 µg once weekly or 200 µg every 2 weeks, appears to be as effective as epoetin alfa, 40,000 U once weekly, for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced anemia in the clinical practice setting.

Key Words. Darbepoetin alfa • Epoetin alfa • Erythropoietin • Anemia • Neoplasms

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