Oxymetholone treatment in aregenerative anaemia. II. Remission and survival--a prospective study.

Scand J Haematol. 1976 Feb;16(2):90-100.

Oxymetholone treatment in aregenerative anaemia. II. Remission and survival--a
prospective study.

Hast R, Skårberg KO, Engstedt L, Jameson S, Killander A, Lundh B, Reizenstein P,
Udén AM, Wadman B.

This is a prospective multi-center study in which patients with aregenerative
anaemia were treated with a standardized high dosage regime of an anabolic
steroid (oxymetholone, Anasteron). 53 patients were included and divided into two
groups according to bone marrow cellularity. Furthermore the hypocellular group
was subdivided in order to make comparison with earlier studies possible. In the
hypocellular group, the frequency of remission was 56% and the 2-year-survival
from the onset of symptoms was 75%. This is longer than in some earlier studies,
perhaps because of possible differences in etiology and/or because of the effect
of systematic high dosage, long term androgen therapy. Patient selection was
minimized and was not considered to be of major importance. Patients with
hypercellular marrows, on the other hand, responded poorly to androgens. In this
group 63% died of acute leukaemia, which confirms earlier suggestions that this
form of aregenerative anaemia, frequently is of a preleukaemic nature.