Role of intravenous iron in the treatment of anemia in patients with gastrointestinal tract tumors undergoing chemotherapy: a single-center, observational study

Figures & data

Table 1 Summary of demographic baseline characteristics of the efficacy population

Variable	Total		Female		Male
N (%)	30	(100.0)	12	(40.0)	18	(60.0)
Age (years)
n (%)	30	(100.0)	12	(40.0)	18	(60.0)
Median (IQR)	67.0	(60.0, 75.8)	68.5	(61.5, 73.5)	65.0	(58.5, 78.0)
Height (cm)
n (%)	29	(96.7)	12	(41.4)	17	(58.6)
Median (IQR)	163.0	(158.0, 169.0)	157.0	(154.2, 161.2)	168.0	(164.0, 179.0)
Weight (kg)
n (%)	29	(96.7)	11	(37.9)	18	(62.1)
Median (IQR)	66.0	(56.0, 79.0)	62.1	(52.2, 70.5)	67.0	(57.2, 79.8)
Chemotherapy regimen, n (%)
Every 2 weeks	19	(65.5)	9	(81.8)	10	(55.6)
Every 3 weeks	5	(17.2)	2	(18.2)	3	(16.7)
Every week	5	(17.2)	0	(0.0)	5	(27.8)
Gastrointestinal neoplasia, n (%)
High	7	(23.3)	2	(16.7)	5	(27.8)
Low	23	(76.7)	10	(83.3)	13	(72.2)

Abbreviation: IQR, interquartile range.

Figure 1 Evaluation of the difference from baseline of hemoglobin concentrations throughout the study.

Table 2 Hemoglobin, other hemogram parameters and iron status parameters at baseline, at the end of the study and the corresponding absolute change

Variable	Baseline		End of study		Absolute change		p-value
Hemoglobin (g/dL)
Mean (SD)	10.3	(0.6)	11.2	(1.6)	0.9	(1.3)	0.001
Serum iron (mg/mL)
Mean (SD)	42.3	(13.9)	59.6	(26.9)	17.4	(26.6)	0.001
Ferritin (ng/mL)
Mean (SD)	230.3	(248.1)	877.0	(601.2)	646.7	(455.7)	<0.001
Transferrin (mg/mL)
Mean (SD)	244.3	(66.0)	205.7	(61.8)	−38.5	(39.2)	<0.001
Iron binding capacity (µg/dL)
Mean (SD)	339.7	(75.6)	301.1	(89.2)	−38.6	(62.8)	0.002
TSAT (%)
Mean (SD)	13.0	(4.3)	19.7	(6.7)	6.7	(6.9)	<0.001
MCV (fL)
Mean (SD)	87.0	(7.7)	92.5	(8.9)	5.4	(5.4)	<0.001
MCH (pg)
Mean (SD)	28.4	(3.0)	30.5	(3.3)	2.1	(2.3)	<0.001
MCHC (g/dL)
Mean (SD)	32.5	(1.2)	33.0	(1.1)	0.5	(1.3)	0.059
RDW (%)
Mean (SD)	16.8	(3.0)	17.0	(3.3)	0.2	(3.7)	0.800

Abbreviations: MCV, mean corpuscular volume; MCH, mean corpuscular hemoglobin; MCHC, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration; RDW, red cell distribution width; TSAT, transferrin saturation.