Survival in Cancer Patients: Results of a Comprehensive Meta-analysis

Background: Anemia associated with cancer and cancer therapy is an important clinical and economic factor in the treatment of malignant diseases. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review to assess the effi cacy of erythro-poietin to prevent or treat anemia in cancer patients with regard to red blood cell transfusions, hematologic response, adverse events, and overall survival. We searched the Co-chrane Library, Medline, EMBASE, and other databases for relevant articles published from January 1985 to December 2001. We included all randomized controlled trials that com-pared the use of recombinant human erythropoietin (plus transfusion, if needed) with no erythropoietin treatment (plus transfusion, if needed). Relative risks (RRs) and 95 % confi-dence intervals (CIs) were calculated under a fi xed-effects model. Clinical and statistical heterogeneity were examine