Almost 25 years after recombinant human erythropoietin first became available to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease, the optimal use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) is as unclear as ever. One reason for this uncertainty is that the risks associated with correction of anemia using ESAs could be either related to patients' hemoglobin levels or to off-target effects of these agents.
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K. -U. Eckardt is a consultant for and has received speaker's honoraria from the following companies: Affymax, Amgen, Ortho Biotech, Roche, Sandoz/Hexal and Stada Pharmaceuticals.
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Eckardt, KU. Are elevated doses of ESAs associated with adverse outcomes?. Nat Rev Nephrol 6, 566–568 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2010.115
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2010.115