Current thinking and treatment practices in anaemia--an interactive poll.

At the recent EHA meeting in Birmingham, UK, an expert audience of haematologists and oncologists were polled using keypad technology on current thinking 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 treatment on the basis of appropriate symptoms rather than haemoglobin level, although among those who would use haemoglobin levels, there was no consensus 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 onlythe haemoglobin or haematocritto identify those responding within thefirst 2-4weeks of treatment. The remainder of the session used three case studies to investigate current treatment practices.