Clinical practice guidelines for the use of erythroid-stimulating agents: ASCO, EORTC, NCCN

Abstract

Three organizations spent a great amount of time, effort, and money writing clinical practice guidelines for the use of erythroid-stimulating agents (ESAs). The American Society of Hematology and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASH/ASCO) panel was convened by these respective professional societies in the United States and a guideline was written in 2002 [1] and an update was published January 1, 2008 (called the 2007 update) [2]. The European equivalent professional society, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), wrote their original guideline in 2004 and updated their ESA guideline in January 2007 [3]. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), a collaborative organization of major comprehensive cancer centers in the United States, published an update of their ESA guideline in July 2008 [4]. (The reader of this chapter in this book must realize that much has transpired in this field since these guideline updates have been written. New data have been published very recently which have led the FDA in the United States and the European Medicine Agency (EMEA) in Europe to recommend curtailment of the use of ESAs. Thus, much in this chapter is of "historical" interest. By the time this chapter is published, more changes may occur, leading to newer pronouncements from the regulators on both sides of the Atlantic.) © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.