Zhou QQ, Li J, Liu B, Wang CL. Roxadustat for treatment of anemia in a cancer patient with end-stage renal disease: A case report. World J Clin Cases 2022; 10(19): 6587-6594 [PMID: 35979316 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i19.6587]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Jing Li, PhD, Professor, Hemodialysis Room, Sichuan Cancer Hospital and Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, No. 55 Section 4, Renmin South Road, Chengdu 610042, Sichuan Province, China. 24978201@qq.com
Research Domain of This Article
Urology & Nephrology
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Jul 6, 2022; 10(19): 6587-6594 Published online Jul 6, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i19.6587
Roxadustat for treatment of anemia in a cancer patient with end-stage renal disease: A case report
Qiao-Qiao Zhou, Jing Li, Bin Liu, Chun-Li Wang
Qiao-Qiao Zhou, Jing Li, Chun-Li Wang, Hemodialysis Room, Sichuan Cancer Hospital and Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610042, Sichuan Province, China
Bin Liu, Department of Internal Medicine-Oncology, Sichuan Cancer Hospital and Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610042, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Li J designed the study; Zhou QQ collected the patient’s clinical data and contributed to drafting the manuscript; Wang CL collected the patient’s clinical data; Liu B provided this case; and all authors issued final approval for this version to be submitted.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to report.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jing Li, PhD, Professor, Hemodialysis Room, Sichuan Cancer Hospital and Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, No. 55 Section 4, Renmin South Road, Chengdu 610042, Sichuan Province, China. 24978201@qq.com
Received: November 23, 2021 Peer-review started: November 23, 2021 First decision: April 8, 2022 Revised: April 16, 2022 Accepted: May 8, 2022 Article in press: May 8, 2022 Published online: July 6, 2022
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Most cancer patients are accompanied by anemia, which will be more serious when combined with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). At present, cancer-related anemia and renal anemia treatments mainly include erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs), iron supplementation, and blood transfusion, but their effects are often poor with several safety concerns. We have used roxadustat to treat anemia in a cancer patient with ESRD and achieved a successful outcome for the first time.
CASE SUMMARY
A 64-year-old man was diagnosed with right renal cancer (clear cell renal cell carcinoma). He did not receive surgery or radiotherapy before admission. He was treated with oral soltan (sunitinib malate) on April 18, 2017. During oral chemotherapy, he had numerous complications, including anemia, hypertension, thyroid hypofunction, skin pigment loss, and renal function deterioration. At last, he progressed to ESRD and began hemodialysis treatment. We initially treated the patient with high-dose ESAs, iron supplementation, adequate dialysis, and even blood transfusion, but his anemia did not improve. Roxadustat is a newly developed drug for renal anemia treatment, but not for cancer-related anemia, let alone to treat anemia in cancer patients with ESRD. We prescribed oral roxadustat to the patient. After a period, his hemoglobin gradually increased. He did not have obvious discomfort symptoms, and his tumor did not progress significantly.
CONCLUSION
Oral roxadustat could achieve good results in treating anemia in cancer patients with ESRD.
Core Tip: Currently, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) are the cornerstones for the treatment of renal anemia or cancer-related anemia. Roxadustat is a newly developed drug for renal anemia treatment, but not for cancer-related anemia, let alone to treat anemia in cancer patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). At the beginning, the patient was treated with high-dose ESAs, iron supplementation, and even blood transfusion, but his anemia did not improve. However, after orally taking roxadustat, his hemoglobin gradually increased without significant tumor progression. This is the first case using roxadustat to successfully improve anemia in a cancer patient with ESRD.
