Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Anemia

To TREAT or not to TREAT—that is the question

Although anemia is a well-known risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney disease, a number of prospective clinical trials have shown that treatment of anemia does not improve cardiovascular outcomes. The primary findings of TREAT, the largest trial to date investigating anemia treatment in patients with chronic kidney disease, have been eagerly awaited.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Regidor, D. L. et al. Associations between changes in hemoglobin and administered erythropoiesis-stimulating agent and survival in hemodialysis patients. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 17, 1181–1191 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Collins, A. J. et al. Death, hospitalization, and economic associations among incident hemodialysis patients with hematocrit values of 36 to 39%. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 12, 2465–2473 (2001).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Locatelli, F. et al. Anaemia in haemodialysis patients of five European countries: association with morbidity and mortality in the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS). Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. 19, 121–132 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Besarab, A. et al. The effects of normal as compared with low hematocrit values in patients with cardiac disease who are receiving hemodialysis and epoetin. N. Engl. J. Med. 339, 584–590 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Drüeke, T. B. et al. Normalization of hemoglobin level in patients with chronic kidney disease and anemia. N. Engl. J. Med. 355, 2071–2084 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Singh, A. K. et al. Correction of anemia with epoetin alfa in chronic kidney disease. N. Engl. J. Med. 355, 2085–2098 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Pfeffer, M. A. et al. A trial of darbepoetin alfa in type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. 361, 2019–2032 (2009).

  8. Parfrey, P. S. et al. Double-blind comparison of full and partial anemia correction in incident hemodialysis patients without symptomatic heart disease. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 16, 2180–2189 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Strippoli, G. F., Navaneethan, S. D. & Craig, J. C. Haemoglobin and haematocrit targets for the anaemia of chronic kidney disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD003967. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD003967.pub2 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Szczech, L. A. et al. Secondary analysis of the CHOIR trial epoetin-α dose and achieved hemoglobin outcomes. Kidney Int. 74, 791–798 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares associations with the following companies: Affymax (consultant, grant/research support); Amgen (consultant, honoraria, grant/research support); FibroGen (grant/research support); Hospira (consultant, honoraria, grant/research support); Janssen-Cilag (consultant, honoraria, grant/research support); Roche (consultant, honoraria, grant/research support).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wiecek, A. To TREAT or not to TREAT—that is the question. Nat Rev Nephrol 6, 254–255 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2010.35

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2010.35

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing