ABSTRACT
Background and Objective: Anemia is very common in cancer patients with many etiologies. Palliative care patients also have a number of risk factors for iron-deficiency anemia. Prescribers of ironreplacement therapy often overlook that iron-loading can negatively affect the cancer prognosis. Methods and results: A 66-year-old male was diagnosed with hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). After resection, he received the transarterial chemo-embolization (TACE) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) on the recurred HCC. He was also diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and received RFA. Meanwhile, his hemoglobin level was slightly low (11.0 g/dL). After 21 months, his HCC recurred, together with a significant rise in blood hemoglobin level from 11.0 to 15.0 g/dL due to oral iron supplementation. Further TACE was recommended but refused by the patient. Only after discontinuation of the iron supplement, the follow-up MRI scans did prove that the recurrent tumor improved as the hemoglobin level returned to 11.0 g/dL. His disease is currently stable. Conclusion: Iron-replacement therapy should not be indiscriminately prescribed to all cancer patients with anemia. Further studies about the effect of mild iron deprivation on survival in the palliative care population are necessary since mildly low hemoglobin index can be beneficial to the prognosis of HCC in this case.