THE observation that palliative treatment of mammary gland cancer with androgens produced an increase in the number of red blood cells (RBC) in many patients has been the starting point for using these hormones in the treatment of refractory anemias. Formerly, the only treatment had been transfusions and antibiotics in order to prolong the patient's life; however, with the introduction of androgens in the treatment regime, the prognosis is being changed.1-6 At the beginning, the success was infrequent, probably because of inadequate doses, but with the use of androgens of less virilizing effects which allow larger doses, the remissions became more frequent.7-9
We have had the opportunity to treat five cases of refractory anemia with an androgen (methandrostenolone) which up to now has been used as an anabolic agent. We have studied the routine hematological indices and the erythropoietic dynamics throughout the total therapy program, allowing us to