Epoetin Alfa or Darbepoetin Alfa in Treating Patients With Anemia Caused by Chemotherapy

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: * Diagnosis of solid tumor or nonmyeloid hematologic malignancy (e.g., plasma cell dyscrasia or lymphoproliferative disorder) * No nonmelanomatous skin cancer * Hemoglobin ≤ 10.5 g/dL * Ferritin \> 20 ng/mL (i.e., not obviously iron deficient) * Planning to receive ≥ 12 weeks of anticancer chemotherapy * Biological therapy (e.g., hypomethylating agents, monoclonal antibodies, or small molecule pathway inhibitors) with an individual or cumulative regimen incidence of grade 3 or 4 anemia \> 10% is considered chemotherapy for purposes of this study * No known anemia secondary to any of the following: * Cyanocobalamin (vitamin B\_12) or folic acid deficiency * Gastrointestinal bleeding within the past 2 weeks * Hemolysis * Myelodysplastic syndromes, myeloproliferative disorders, or acute myeloid leukemia * No primary hematologic disorder causing chronic moderate to severe anemia (e.g., congenital dyserythropoietic anemia, homozygous hemoglobin S disease or compound heterozygous sickling states, or thalassemia major) * Carriers of these disease states allowed provided they are not anemic prior to cancer diagnosis PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: * ECOG performance status 0-2 * Life expectancy ≥ 6 months * Not pregnant or nursing * No delivery of a baby of ≥ 18 weeks estimated gestational age within the past 3 months (90 days) * Negative pregnancy test * Fertile patients must use effective contraception * Weight \> 40.0 kg and \< 150.0 kg * …