TITLE:
Darbepoietin-Alfa after High-Dose Melphalan and Autologous Hemopoietic Progenitor Cell in Multiple Myeloma Patients: A Pilot Study
AUTHORS:
Massimo Martino, Ida Callea, Tiziana Moscato, Antonella Pontari, Elisa Spiniello, Roberta Fedele
KEYWORDS:
Darbepoietin-Alfa; Anemia; Multiple Myeloma; Autologous Hematopoietic Progenitor Cell Transplanta-tion
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Blood Diseases,
Vol.2 No.3,
September
4,
2012
ABSTRACT: We describe the effects of Darbepoietin-alfa (Darbe) administration in Multiple Myeloma (MM) after autologous he-mopoietic progenitor cell transplantation (AHPCT). 26 MM patients undergoing AHPCT entered this study. 34 hemo-globin (Hb)-matched patients who had not received recombinant human erythropoietin (Epo) or Darbe and were treated with the same protocol were retrospectively selected for comparative data. Darbe (150 micro g total dose/weekly) was initiating in four weeks after AHPCT, with the aim of achieving an Hb level of ≥11 g/dl. The time to response to Darbe therapy was longer in the patients with Hb