Erythropoietin as an adjuvant treatment with (chemo) radiation therapy for head and neck cancer.

Tumour hypoxia increases tumour invasiveness and has a negative impact on response to therapy. Hypoxic tumours are also associated with severely anaemic individuals. It has therefore been hypothesised that correcting anaemia, by increasing haemoglobin levels using erythropoietin, improves tumour oxygenation and consequently the patient's prognosis.