Epoetin is a synthetic
version of the hormone erythropoietin, which stimulates
the production of red blood cells in the body’s
bone marrow. Epoetin is used to combat the side effects
of prostate cancer chemotherapy drugs. Chemotherapy
is systemic and therefore attacks all cells that divide
quickly, not just cancer cells. Bone marrow divides
quickly, so red blood cell production, as well as white
blood cell and platelet production, may be negatively
affected. If the level of red blood cells falls too
low, the result is anemia. In the past, patients whose
bone marrow was affected by prostate cancer chemotherapy
would require blood transfusions. Because of the stimulatory
affect of epoetin, most patients do not require round-the-clock
monitoring in the hospital.
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