Symptoms of Neutropenia From Cancer Treatment

Neutropenia is a hematological disorder sometimes referred to as leukopenia, a decrease in the overall number of white blood cells. Neutropenia is caused by an abnormally low number of neutrophils in the blood. Neutrophils are the most important type of white blood cells, making up 50 to 70 percent of the circulating white blood cells in a body; their main job is to destroy bacteria in the blood, making up the body's primary defense against infections. Patients suffering from neutropenia are at a higher risk for bacterial infections, and the condition can cause these infections to become fatal. This is a description of the symptoms of neutropenia from cancer treatment.

The cancer connection

Neutropenia can develop in cancer patients due to a number of causes. Mainly it results from the decreased production of neutrophils in the bone marrow, particularly in conjunction with blood cancers, or from radiation or the destruction of neutrophils by chemotherapy treatments. Neutropenia may also stem from many other conditions and from some medications.

Symptoms

Neutropenia can go undetected for some time until the patient develops a severe infection or sepsis. Common infections may develop in different ways when the patient is affected by this condition. For example, pus may not form due to the lack of neutrophil granulocytes. Common symptoms of neutropenia include frequent infections, fevers, diarrhea, sore throat, mouth ulcers and burning during urination, or unusual pain, redness or swelling around a wound.

If low neutrophil counts are revealed by a full blood count performed on a patient, more tests are then usually done, including a bone marrow biopsy when necessary. While there is no ideal treatment for neutropenia, recombinant G-CSF (Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) hormone therapies are one option.