This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on Web of Science (1)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Related letters  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Venous Thromboembolism  • Oncology  • Brain Cancer  • Oncology, Other  • Cardiovascular System  • Statistics and Research Methods  • Drug Therapy  • Drug Therapy, Other  • Gastroenterology  • Liver/ Biliary Tract/ Pancreatic Diseases  • Hematology/ Hematologic Malignancies  • Anemias  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: The systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) in the treatment of cancer-associated anemia by Dr Bennett and colleagues¹ was largely based on our previously published Cochrane review,^2-3 supplemented with additional data from the literature. We have a number of concerns about the study methods and data.

First, it is unclear whether the authors followed a protocol that defined eligibility criteria and preplanned subgroup analyses. The eligibility criteria appear to be different from the Cochrane review. Bennett et al incorporated data from ongoing studies⁴ and trials with iron supplementation in the active study group, which were excluded from the Cochrane review. If the earlier review was the point of departure for their analysis, only supplemented with studies published after 2005, it does not seem appropriate to use different inclusion and exclusion criteria. All studies published before 2005 should have been re-examined for consistency . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Julia Bohlius, MD, MScPH
jbohlius@ispm.unibe.ch
Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine
University of Bern
Bern, Switzerland

Andreas Engert, MD
First Department of Internal Medicine
University Hospital Cologne
Cologne, Germany

Guido Schwarzer, MSc, PhD
Institute of Medical Biometry and Medical Informatics
University of Freiburg
Freiburg, Germany

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLE

Venous Thromboembolism and Mortality Associated With Recombinant Erythropoietin and Darbepoetin Administration for the Treatment of Cancer-Associated Anemia
Charles L. Bennett, Samuel M. Silver, Benjamin Djulbegovic, Athena T. Samaras, C. Anthony Blau, Kara J. Gleason, Sara E. Barnato, Kathleen M. Elverman, D. Mark Courtney, June M. McKoy, Beatrice J. Edwards, Cara C. Tigue, Dennis W. Raisch, Paul R. Yarnold, David A. Dorr, Timothy M. Kuzel, Martin S. Tallman, Steven M. Trifilio, Dennis P. West, Stephen Y. Lai, and Michael Henke
JAMA. 2008;299(8):914-924.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

RELATED LETTERS

Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agents in the Treatment of Cancer-Associated Anemia
Ozgur Kara, Omer Dizdar, and Kadri Altundag
JAMA. 2008;300(24):2855.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agents in the Treatment of Cancer-Associated Anemia—Reply
Charles L. Bennett, Michael Henke, and Stephen Y. Lai
JAMA. 2008;300(24):2855-2857.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT