Amgen Tests Show Less Aranesp Still Effective in Cancer Patients

In clinical data presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology, Amgen in Thousand Oaks announced that its trial drug, Aranesp, appeared to be effective given just once every three weeks to anemic cancer patients with solid tumors.

The current standard of care requires that cancer patients receive injections of the available anemia therapy three times a week, although many patients are receiving weekly injections.

“The potential for being able to treat anemia in cancer patients with injections substantially less often than currently given could dramatically increase the number of anemia patients who are treated for this under-recognized but serious disease,” said Dr. Dusan Kotasek of the Ashford Cancer Centre in Ashford, Australia.

In two separate studies, the use of Aranesp was tied to increases in hemoglobin and a decrease in transfusions, Amgen officials said.