• Percentage of patients maintaining an average hemoglobin level within the NCCN range (11-13 g/dL) through week 16, once achieving a hemoglobin of ≥ 11 g/dL [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Incidence of patients receiving at least one RBC transfusion from week 1 to week 16 [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Comparison of mean hemoglobin increment at weeks 7 and 16 with the baseline hemoglobin value [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Time to hematopoietic response [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Time to first RBC transfusion [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Overall quality of life as measured by the UNISCALE, LASA, SDS, BFI, and FACT-An questionnaires [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
• Effect of CRP, serum hepcidin levels, sTfR/log ferritin ratio, ferritin, MCV, red cell distribution width, and transferrin saturation on response rates [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

RATIONALE: Darbepoetin alfa may cause the body to make more red blood cells. Red blood cells contain iron that is needed to carry oxygen to the tissues. It is not yet known whether giving darbepoetin alfa together with intravenous iron or oral iron is more effective than giving darbepoetin alfa together with a placebo in treating anemia caused by chemotherapy.

PURPOSE: This randomized phase III trial is studying giving darbepoetin alfa together with iron to see how well it works compared with giving darbepoetin alfa together with a placebo in treating anemia caused by chemotherapy in patients with cancer.

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

• To compare the effects of IV iron, oral iron, or placebo in combination with darbepoetin alfa on the hematopoietic response rate, defined as a hemoglobin increment of ≥ 2.0 g/dL from baseline or achievement of hemoglobin of ≥ 11 g/dL in the absence of red blood cell transfusions (RBC) in the preceding 28 days of the treatment period, in cancer patients with chemotherapy-associated anemia.

Secondary

• To compare the effects of these regimens on the mean hemoglobin increment from baseline to weeks 7 and 16 in these patients.
• To compare the effects of these regimens on the percentage of patients maintaining an average hemoglobin level within the ASCO/ASH and NCCN guideline-based target hemoglobin range (11-13 g/dL), once achieving a hemoglobin of ≥ 11 g/dL from week 1 to week 16 in the absence of RBC transfusions in the preceding 28 days of the treatment period.
• To compare the effects of IV iron, oral iron, or placebo on the response to darbepoetin alfa, in terms of time to achieving hemoglobin levels of ≥ 11g/dL.
• To compare the effects of these regimens on the percentage of patients who require RBC transfusions and the total transfusion needs.
• To compare the effects of these regimens on the change in hemoglobin week by week.
• To compare the effects of these regimens on quality-of-life changes from baseline to weeks 7 and 16.
• To identify if patients with inflammation (as indicated by elevated CRP and serum hepcidin levels or low sTfR/log ferritin ratios) respond differently to darbepoetin alfa and iron therapy than patients without inflammation.

OUTLINE: Patients are stratified according to severity of anemia (mild [hemoglobin ≥ 9.5 g/dL] vs severe [hemoglobin < 9.5 g/dL]), treatment with a platinum-containing regimen (yes vs no), and gender. Patients are randomized to 1 of 3 treatment arms.

• Arm I: Patients receive darbepoetin alfa subcutaneously and sodium ferric gluconate complex IV over 90 minutes on day 1.
• Arm II: Patients receive darbepoetin alfa as in arm I and oral ferrous sulfate once daily on days 1-21.
• Arm III: Patients receive darbepoetin alfa as in arm I and oral placebo once daily on days 1-21.

In all arms, treatment repeats every 21 days for up to 15 weeks in the absence of unacceptable toxicity.

Patients complete quality-of-life questionnaires in weeks 1, 7, and 16.

• Anemia
• Leukemia
• Lymphoma
• Lymphoproliferative Disorder
• Multiple Myeloma and Plasma Cell Neoplasm
• Precancerous/Nonmalignant Condition
• Unspecified Adult Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific

• Biological: darbepoetin alfa
• Dietary Supplement: ferrous sulfate
• Drug: sodium ferric gluconate complex in sucrose
• Other: placebo

• Experimental: Patients receive darbepoetin alfa subcutaneously and sodium ferric gluconate complex IV over 90 minutes on day 1. Treatment repeats every 21 days for up to 15 weeks in the absence of unacceptable toxicity.
• Experimental: Patients receive darbepoetin alfa as in arm I and oral ferrous sulfate once daily on days 1-21. Treatment repeats every 21 days for up to 15 weeks in the absence of unacceptable toxicity.
• Experimental: Patients receive darbepoetin alfa as in arm I and oral placebo once daily on days 1-21. Treatment repeats every 21 days for up to 15 weeks in the absence of unacceptable toxicity.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Diagnosis of a non-myeloid cancer (other than non-melanomatous skin cancer)
• Receiving or scheduled to receive chemotherapy (biological agents, such as small molecules/tyrosine kinase inhibitors and antibody-based therapies, are allowed)

• Has chemotherapy-related anemia (hemoglobin < 11 g/dL)

  • No anemia known to be secondary to gastrointestinal bleeding or hemolysis

  • No anemia known to be secondary to vitamin B12 or folic acid deficiency

    • Vitamin B12 and folic acid deficiency must be ruled out if the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) is > 100 fL
  • No anemia secondary to chemotherapy-induced myelodysplastic syndromes

• No primary hematologic disorder causing moderate to severe anemia (e.g., congenital dyserythropoietic anemia, homozygous hemoglobin S disease or compound heterozygous sickling states, or thalassemia major)

  • Carriers for these disease states are eligible
• No first-degree relative with primary hemochromatosis (unless the patient has undergone HFE genotyping and was found to have at least one wild-type allele, while the proband in the family demonstrated to have either the common C282Y or H63D mutation)

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• ECOG performance status 0-2
• Ferritin > 20 mcg/L (i.e., not obviously iron deficient)
• ALT or AST < 5 times upper limit of normal
• Alert, mentally competent, and able to sign informed consent
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 3 months after completion of study treatment
• Willing or able to be randomized and undergo study treatment
• Willing or able to fill out quality-of-life forms
• No uncontrolled hypertension (i.e., systolic blood pressure [BP] ≥ 180 mm Hg or diastolic BP ≥ 100 mm Hg)
• No history of uncontrolled cardiac arrhythmias
• No pulmonary embolism or deep venous thrombosis within the past year (unless the patient is on anticoagulation therapy and planning to continue it during study participation)
• No known hypersensitivity to darbepoetin alfa, erythropoietin, mammalian cell-derived products, iron, or human albumin
• No seizures within the past 3 months

• No gastrointestinal conditions expected to cause significant impairment of oral iron, such as untreated celiac disease or amyloidosis involving the gut

  • Patients with celiac disease who are adhering to a gluten-free diet are eligible

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics
• More than 3 months since prior darbepoetin alfa, epoetin alfa, or any investigational forms of erythropoietin (e.g., gene-activated erythropoietin or novel erythropoiesis-stimulating protein)
• More than 1 year since prior peripheral blood stem cell or bone marrow transplantation
• More than 2 weeks since prior red blood cell transfusions
• More than 14 days since prior major surgery
• No prior gastrectomy or resection of > 100 cm of small intestine
• Not planning to undergo stem cell or bone marrow transplantation within the next 6 months