TY - JOUR
T1 - Using the hemoglobin content of reticulocytes (RET-He) to evaluate anemia in patients with cancer
AU - Peerschke, Ellinor I.B.
AU - Pessin, Melissa S.
AU - Maslak, Peter
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© American Society for Clinical Pathology.
PY - 2014/10/1
Y1 - 2014/10/1
N2 - Objectives: Evaluation of anemia, particularly iron deficiency, in patients with cancer is difficult. This study examined using the hemoglobin content of reticulocytes (RET-He) to rule out iron deficiency, as defined by serum iron studies (transferrin saturation <20%, serum iron <40 μ g/dL, and ferritin <100 ng/mL), in an unselected cancer patient population. Methods: Patients were entered into the study based on the existence of concurrent laboratory test requests for CBC and serum iron studies. Results: Using a threshold of 32 pg/cell, RET-He ruled out iron deficiency with a negative predictive value (NPV) of 98.5% and 100%, respectively, in the study population (n = 209) and in a subpopulation of patients with low reticulocyte counts (n = 19). In comparison, the NPV of traditional CBC parameters (hemoglobin, <11 g/dL; mean corpuscular volume, <80 fL) was only 88.5%. Conclusions: These results support the use of RET-He in the evaluation of iron deficiency in a cancer care setting.
AB - Objectives: Evaluation of anemia, particularly iron deficiency, in patients with cancer is difficult. This study examined using the hemoglobin content of reticulocytes (RET-He) to rule out iron deficiency, as defined by serum iron studies (transferrin saturation <20%, serum iron <40 μ g/dL, and ferritin <100 ng/mL), in an unselected cancer patient population. Methods: Patients were entered into the study based on the existence of concurrent laboratory test requests for CBC and serum iron studies. Results: Using a threshold of 32 pg/cell, RET-He ruled out iron deficiency with a negative predictive value (NPV) of 98.5% and 100%, respectively, in the study population (n = 209) and in a subpopulation of patients with low reticulocyte counts (n = 19). In comparison, the NPV of traditional CBC parameters (hemoglobin, <11 g/dL; mean corpuscular volume, <80 fL) was only 88.5%. Conclusions: These results support the use of RET-He in the evaluation of iron deficiency in a cancer care setting.
KW - Anemia
KW - Cancer
KW - Hematology
KW - Iron deficiency
KW - RET-He
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84921672199&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1309/AJCPCVZ5B0BOYJGN
DO - 10.1309/AJCPCVZ5B0BOYJGN
M3 - Article
C2 - 25239418
AN - SCOPUS:84921672199
SN - 0002-9173
VL - 142
SP - 506
EP - 512
JO - American Journal of Clinical Pathology
JF - American Journal of Clinical Pathology
IS - 4
ER -