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Query: UMLS:C0684249 (lung carcinoma)
 23,830 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Despite therapeutic improvements and ongoing efforts to develop more efficacious therapies, the majority of lung cancer patients face a poor prognosis. Therefore, the primary goal of current treatment is palliation, improvement and maintenance of quality of life (QOL), and (modest) prolongation of survival. Anemia frequently occurs in lung cancer patients and has been associated with decreased QOL, impaired treatment outcomes, and shortened survival time. Furthermore, anemia is a causative factor of tumor hypoxia, which compromises the efficacy of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Thus, correction of even mild anemia seems to have a beneficial effect on QOL and cancer treatment outcomes. The current article describes the basis and mechanism for the use of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO, epoetin alfa), a molecular targeted therapy, for the treatment of cancer-related anemia, with a focus on lung cancer. Epoetin alfa has proven efficacy and safety in correcting anemia and improving QOL based on numerous clinical studies and over a decade of clinical practice. In addition, emerging data show that epoetin alfa may offer potential benefits beyond treating anemia, specifically in terms of treatment outcomes and cognitive function. Future research needs to be conducted to explore the potential for epoetin alfa to improve survival time in lung cancer patients.
Lung Cancer 2003 Aug
PMID:Targeted molecular mechanisms of epoetin alfa. 1286 72

A retrospective subset analysis of anemic lung cancer patients who participated in three large, multicenter, community-based studies of 3-times-weekly (TIW) or once-weekly (QW) recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO, epoetin alfa) as an adjunct to chemotherapy was conducted. Patients were treated with epoetin alfa 150 U/kg in the first TIW study and with 10,000 U subcutaneously in the other study, with doubling of the dose if hemoglobin (Hb) response was inadequate. Patients in the QW study received epoetin alfa 40,000 U subcutaneously, which could be increased to 60,000 U. The maximum treatment duration for all three studies was 16 weeks. A total of 1748 lung cancer patients were evaluable for hematopoietic response; 1298 were evaluable for analyses of energy and 1300 were evaluable for analyses of activity and overall quality of life (QOL), as measured by the linear analogue scale assessment (LASA). Within 2 months of therapy, TIW and QW epoetin alfa therapy resulted in significant increases in Hb levels, decreases in transfusion requirements, and improvements in self-reported LASA scores. Increased Hb levels and reduced transfusion rates were demonstrated in the individual studies and in the analysis of data pooled from all three studies. Improvements in QOL parameters were significantly correlated with increased Hb levels. Epoetin alfa was well tolerated in all studies. The clinical benefits and safety profiles of the TIW and the QW schedules appear to be similar. In addition, the QW schedule provides greater convenience to patients and physicians alike. Given the high incidence of anemia and transfusion utilization in patients presenting with lung cancer, epoetin alfa is an effective strategy for correcting anemia in these patients, thereby improving their energy levels, activity levels, and overall QOL.
Clin Lung Cancer 2002 Feb
PMID:Clinical benefits of epoetin alfa therapy in patients with lung cancer. 1466 41

Anaemia seriously threatens the quality of life (QOL) in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. In this article results are presented on the lung cancer population from a Dutch observational study. This study addressed the real-life situation of recombinant human erythropoietin (r-Hu-EPO or epoetin alfa) treatment in anaemic cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, with a focus on efficacy. In total 781 patients were enrolled in the observational study, including 382 patients with lung cancer. At enrolment patients were receiving epoetin alfa treatment and/or patients had a haemoglobin (Hb) level </=11.3g/dl. Analysis was focused on lung cancer patients who were treated with epoetin alfa (n=343). Type of cancer, chemotherapy agents, type of anaemia management and Hb levels were documented. Hb development was analysed and the effect of epoetin alfa treatment was investigated. In total 343 lung cancer patients were treated with epoetin alfa: 210 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 133 patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The majority of patients (99.4%) received 40,000 IU epoetin alfa once weekly. Before epoetin alfa treatment was started during chemotherapy, Hb levels decreased with a rate of 1.3g/dl per 4 weeks, both for NSCLC as well as for SCLC. Epoetin alfa treatment was started on average at an Hb level of 10.6g/dl for NSCLC and 10.4g/dl for SCLC, respectively. Hb increases of 0.5-0.6g/dl per 4 weeks and 0.2g/dl per 4 weeks were reached for NSCLC and SCLC, respectively. Although significant increases of Hb levels were reached, the epoetin alfa treatment could not fully correct the Hb decrease which had taken place during chemotherapy before the start of epoetin alfa, resulting in suboptimal Hb levels. In contrast, early intervention with epoetin alfa (start in first week of chemotherapy at Hb>11.3g/dl) was especially effective for NSCLC patients where it resulted in a stabilization of Hb at baseline level. For SCLC patients this strategy was less effective. Furthermore, early intervention seemed to diminish the need for a blood transfusion, i.e., the higher the Hb at epoetin initiation the more patients did not receive any blood transfusion. Results from this observational study demonstrate that epoetin alfa treatment corrects chemotherapy-related anaemia in both NSCLC as well as SCLC patients. Early epoetin alfa intervention seems advantageous for lung cancer patients both in terms of maintaining adequate Hb levels during chemotherapy as well as reducing transfusions.
Lung Cancer 2007 Oct
PMID:Anaemia management with epoetin alfa in lung cancer patients in The Netherlands. 1760 32