Erythropoietin response in anaemic patients with multiple myeloma and other lymphoid malignancies infiltrating the bone marrow.

Immunoreactive erythropoietin levels were measured in 42 patients with lymphoid malignancies with anaemia and bone marrow involvement. Results were compared to a control group of 16 patients suffering from anaemia due to other causes. Significant inverse correlations between serum erythropoietin level and haemoglobin concentration were shown for the patients with lymphoid malignancies and also for the control subjects. Overall, the erythropoietin levels of patients with lymphoid malignancies with bone marrow infiltration and with normal renal function did not differ significantly from erythropoietin levels of the anaemic controls. We conclude that anaemia in patients with lymphoproliferative disorders with bone marrow infiltration and normal renal function is caused primarily by a diminished/inadequate response to erythropoietin at the level of the target cell.