(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new study finds a connection between developing
anemia during chemotherapy and the recurrence of breast cancer. Study authors
say patients who have chemotherapy-induced anemia have nearly three times the
risk of local recurrence as those who did not have anemia.
“We speculate that there may be an interaction between chemotherapy/radiotherapy
and anemia,” says lead researcher Peter Dubsky, M.D., a senior consultant in the
department of surgery at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. “Both
treatment modalities have been shown to be less effective in anemic patients.
Since we do not see the effect in terms of relapse-free survival, the
interaction with local adjuvant treatment may play a more important role.”
The study included data on 424 patients who received standard CMF chemotherapy.
Researchers looked at rates of anemia, local relapse-free survival, relapse-free
survival and overall survival. They found after more than five years, 39 local
relapses occurred including in seven percent of patients without anemia and 20
percent in patients with anemia. The five year relapse rates were eight percent
in non-anemic patients and 20 percent in anemic patients. Those without anemia
also had a longer time without a recurrence than those with anemia. No
difference in overall survival was seen, but researchers say they expected that
given the length of the study.
Study authors say the recurrence was limited to local recurrence but they say
any explanation at this point is pure speculation.
SOURCE: Clinical Cancer Research, published online April 1, 2008
