Recombinant Human Erythropoietin May Negatively Influence Survival in Newly Diagnosed Patients with Multiple Myeloma: A Single Center Experience in 246 Patients.

Anemia is a common clinical problem in patients with multiple myeloma (MM), which adversely affects their quality of life. The administration of recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO) improves anemia in about 2/3 of patients. However, it has not been clarified if r-HuEPO has any beneficial or adverse impact on the overall survival, particularly in a clear population of MM patients. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of r-HuEPO administration on the overall survival of newly diagnosed patients with MM. Two hundred forty-six newly diagnosed symptomatic MM patients, 139 males and 107 females, with a median age of 67 years (range 29–90) were studied. R-HuEPO was administered according to standard criteria, when Hb levels were less than 10.5g/dl and it was titrated and discontinued when Hb level reached 13g/dl. The parameters evaluated for predicting survival were: Age, sex, Hb, platelets, bone marrow infiltration, serum creatinine, serum ferritin, ISS score, B2-microglobulin and r-HuEPO administration. Cox regression was used for the univariate and multivariate analysis. One hundred forty-two patients received r-HuEPO and 105 did not. The median duration of r-HuEPO administration was 6 weeks (range 4–10) and the median hemoglobin level of patients who received r-huEPO, was 9.2g/dl (range 7.3–10.5 g/dl). The median follow up was 31 months (range 1–231). The univariate analysis showed that, age, Hb, platelets, serum creatinine, serum ferritin, ISS score, B2-microglobulin and r-HuEPO administration predicted for survival (p<0.05). The multivariate analysis demonstrated that, age, ISS score and r-HuEPO administration were statistically significant for predicting overall survival (p<0.05). The median survival of patients in the r-HuEPO group was 22 months (SD 22.7mo) whereas in the group without r-HuEPO administration it was 40 months (SD 35.8mo) (p=0.02). These results, suggest that r-HuEPO administration may negatively influence overall survival in newly diagnosed patients with MM and therefore, within this context, it should be used with caution. The large number of exclusively MM patients with a long follow up included in this study, highlights the importance of these results.