Question

Mr. Lepp is a 63-year-old man who was diagnosed with colon cancer several weeks ago and who is scheduled to begin chemotherapy. He reports to the nurse that he read about the need for erythropoietin in an online forum for cancer patients and wants to explore the use of epoetin alfa with his oncologist. Which of the following facts should underlie the nurse's response to Mr. Lepp?A) Epoetin alfa is normally contraindicated in patients who are receiving radiotherapy or chemotherapy. B) Treatment with epoetin alfa will likely begin 4 to 6 days before Mr. Lepp’s first round of chemotherapy and continue indefinitely. C) The potential benefits of epoetin alfa must be weighed carefully against the potential adverse effects in cancer patients. D) Mr. Lepp’s oncologist should have begun treatment with epoetin alfa immediately after he was diagnosed.

Answer 1

Answer: The correct option is C (The potential benefits of epoetin alfa must be weighed carefully against the potential adverse effects in cancer patients.)

Step-by-step explanation:

Epoetin is a protein that is produced naturally in the body that functions to stimulate the production of red blood cells. It has the ability to attach to epoetin receptors on hematopoietic progenitor cells thereby stimulating the production of red blood cells.It consists of two forms

- epoetin Alfa and

- epoetin beta.

Epoetin Alfa can be administered to patients with the following health conditions:

- patients with chemotherapy- and radiation-associated anemia,

- chronic renal failure,

- HIV who are being treated with zidovudine, and

- to patients who will undergo surgery.

In recent research studies, it has been proven that epoetin Alfa has a negative adverse effect on cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. They found out that:

- it caused the acceleration of growth and proliferation of certain cancer cells in vitro as cancer cells possess epoetin receptors that respond to exogenous epoetin.

-it equally caused higher-than-expected number of blood clots in cancer patients.

The nurse should make known the potential benefits of epoetin alfa and the potential adverse effects to Mr. Lepp.

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