OBJECTIVEThis study was conducted to investigate the correlation between anemia and postoperative chemotherapy in elderly cancer patients.

METHODSOne hundred and fifty-seven elderly patients ( age ≥ 60) with pathologically confirmed breast, lung and digestive tract cancers, who had HGB ≥ 120 g/L and ECOG scores 0-2, were included in this study. We reviewed their clinicopathological data and analyzed the correlation of anemia in breast cancer patients after 1, 3 or 5 cycles and lung cancer patients after 1, 2 or 3 cycles of postoperative chemotherapy.

RESULTSAmong the 157 cases, the overall proportion of anemia was 31.8% (50/157) , with 18.8% in male and 47.2% in female patients (P < 0.001). After three cycles of chemotherapy, the proportion of anemia was 57.9% in lung cancer, 34.5% in breast cancer, 26.3% in gastric cancer and 9.3% in colorectal cancer patients (P < 0.001). The proportion of anemia during 5 cycles chemotherapy (three cycles in lung cancer) was gradually increasing. In the lung cancer patients, anemia was observed in 66.7% of patients who received vinorelbine plus cispiatin regimen and 25.0% of cases who received vinorelbine regimen chemotherapy (P = 0.044).

CONCLUSIONSIn most elderly patients with normal hemoglobin level and in good conditions, the chemotherapy-related anemia is mild and less frequent. Age should not limit the adjuvant chemotherapy in elderly cancer patients. Attention should be paid to the possibility of anemia in elderly female lung cancer patients receiving multiple cycle platinum-based chemotherapy regimens.