Current thinking and treatment practices in anaemia - an interactive poll

At the recent EHA meeting in Birmingham, UK, an expert audience of haematol ogists and oncologists were polled using keypad technology on current think ing and treatment practices in anaemia in cancer patients. More than 76% of the audience thought that anaemia had a significant negative impact on the quality of life of cancer patients. The majority (> 60%) would institute t reatment on the basis of appropriate symptoms rather than haemoglobin level , although among those who would use haemoglobin levels, there was no conse nsus on the concentration at which they would start treatment. The majority of respondents (54%) chose not to use the serum erythropoietin level as a guide as to when to Institute therapy with recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) but, of those who would use it, 55% would use only the haemoglobi n or haematocrit to identify those responding within the first 2-4 weeks of treatment. The remainder of the session used three case studies to investi gate current treatment practices.