Understanding the Link Between Cancer Disease and Anaemia
by
Omega Hospitals
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WHO defines anaemia as a haemoglobin concentration less than a specified cut-off point.
The cut-off point is determined by factors such as age, gender, physiological status, smoking habits, and altitude at which the population is evaluated.
Age, sex and race-specific nomograms are used.
Anaemia is classified as mild, moderate, severe and very severe depending on these references.
The prevalence of anaemia in cancer patients depends on the cut-off chosen for classifying anaemia.
Anaemia prevalence also varies with the type of malignancy.
It is more common in haematological malignancies (72%) than in solid tumours (66%).
Causes of anaemia in cancer can be:
Inadequate production of RBCs
Increased destruction of RBCs
Bleeding
Mechanisms of anaemia can be disease-related, therapy-related or concomitant factors.
Disease-related mechanism can be due to production of cytokines or other factors like bone marrow infiltration.
Treatment-related mechanisms can be due to chemotherapy, radiotherapy or other drugs. It can be transient or sustained.
The most common symptom of anaemia in cancer is fatigue.
Different studies have shown decreased survival with cancer disease with the presence of anaemia.
However, anaemia can also indicate advanced disease in haematological malignancies.
