Anemia diagnosis and therapy in malignant diseases: implementation of guidelines-a representative study.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Anemia in cancer should be diagnosed and treated according to guideline recommendations. The implementation of ESMO and German guidelines and their effect on anemia correction was analyzed. METHODS: This retrospective epidemiological study, representative for Germany, analyzed data on anemia management of cancer patients with anemia ≥ grade 2. The Guideline Adherence Score (GLAD) for diagnosis (GLAD-D) and therapy (GLAD-T) was defined as follows 2 points for complete, 1 point for partial, 0 point for no adherence. RESULTS: Data were analyzed for 1046 patients. Hb levels at diagnosis of anemia were 8-10 g/dL in 899 (85.9%) patients, 7-8 g/dL in 92 (8.7%), and < 7 g/dL (5.0%) in 52. Transferrin saturation was determined in 19% of patients. Four hundred fifty-six patients received RBC (43.6%), 198 (18.9%) iron replacement, 106 (10.1%) ESA, and 60 (5.7%) vitamin B12 replacement. 60.6% of patients receiving iron replacement were treated intravenously and 39.4% were treated orally. Two hundred eighty-eight (36.6%) of 785 patients receiving transfusions had no guideline-directed indication. GLAD-D was 2 in 310 patients (29.6%), 1 in 168 (16.1%), and 0 in 568 (54.3%). GLAD-T was 2 in 270 patients (25.8%), 1 in 320 patients (30.6%), and 0 in 456 patients (43.6%). Higher GLAD-D significantly correlated with higher GLAD-T (τB = 0.176, p < 0.001). GLAD-T 2 was significantly associated with greater Hb increase than GLAD-T 0/1 (p < 0.001) at 28 days (10.2 vs. 9.7 g/dL) and at 2 months (10.4 vs. 9.9 g/dL). CONCLUSIONS: Anemia assessment is inadequate, transfusion rates too high, and iron and ESA therapy too infrequent. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05190263, date 2022-01-13.