The clinical evaluation of erythropoietin for the treatment of preoperative autologous blood donation in patients with oral malignant tumor

Abstract

The efficacy and safety of autologous blood trans fusionwith the support of r Hu EPO in 47 patients with oral malignant tumors were evaluated by a multicenter study.
The patients consisted of 30 men and 17 women.The age of the patients ranged from 41 to 81 (aver age: 60.7±9.7 years old).
The most frequent site of the lesions was tongue, followed by lower jaw, upper jaw, and floor of the mouth. Ninety-four percent of the lesions were squamous cell carcinoma and 66% were classified into Stage III or Stage IV.
Twelve patients received surgery alone and 35 patients received radiation therapy and/or chemother apybefore surgery.
A blood volume of 800 ml or 1, 200 ml was success fullycollected within three weeks with the support of r Hu EPO treatment in 45 (96%) out of 47 patients.
Allogenous blood transfusion was avoided in 33 (72%) out of 46 patients who underwent autologous blood donation prior to operation. Hemoglobin levels of the patients significantly decreased by blood donation but this did not affect the patients' conditionsfor surgery.
As a result, efficacy scores based on the increase of hemoglobin levels prior to operation were “excellent or effective” in 24 (51%) out of 47 patients. No adverse event was observed during the study period.
From the above findings, epoetin alfa treatment for autologous blood donation in patients with oral malignant tumors was considered effective and safe.