Hale is the Regional Assistant Medical Director in Oncology at Ortho Biotech. Her discussion focused on the use of erythropoietin in the treatment of patients. Erythropoietin is a hormone made by the kidney that causes bone marrow to manufacture red blood cells. Hale outlined the use of erythropoietin in the treatment of cancer-related anemia. The hormone has been cloned and manufactured, and erythropoietin injections can now help to fight anemia and also block some of the negative effects of chemotherapy, while boosting red blood cell count.
Side effects are minimal.
The use of erythropoietin in anemic patients with cancer points to a medical horizon where the unmet needs of the last millennium will be met, and alleviated, with innovative treatments.