Certain types of cancers – Such as bowel cancers (which can cause iron deficiency by chronic blood loss into the gut), blood/bone marrow cancers and cancers that spread to the bone marrow.
What It Means to Have Anemia and Cancer. Iron deficiency anemia “may be the red flag that leads a health care provider to search for cancer,” says Francis, since it's typically caused by blood loss, which often occurs in colon cancer and uterine cancer but is less commonly in bladder cancer.
Cancers that involve the bone marrow, like leukemia or lymphoma, can cause anemia because red blood cells are produced in the marrow. Some cancers can metastasize to the bone marrow, such as breast and prostate cancer, and if this happens can also interfere with red blood cell production and cause anemia.
Leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma can damage bone marrow. Also, cancer that spreads to the bone or bone marrow may crowd out healthy red blood cells.
Previously, anemia has been reported to be more common in CRC patients with tumors in proximal colon and of advanced stage3–6.
The 3 main symptoms of bowel cancer are blood in the stools (faeces), a change in bowel habit, such as more frequent, looser stools, and abdominal (tummy) pain. However, these symptoms are very common.
What causes anemia in cancer patients? Anemia is a common condition of cancer patients. This is because cancers cause inflammation that decrease red blood cell production. In addition, many chemotherapies are myelosuppressive, meaning they slow down the production of new blood cells by the bone marrow.
Stomach cancer can cause anemia, which is a low number of red blood cells. The bleeding that accompanies this type of cancer may cause you to lose red blood cells faster than your body can make them. This will lead to a diminished supply of oxygen to your organs, something that will make you feel tired or weak.
Can Anemia Lead to Leukemia? There are several potential causes of anemia, including deficiencies in iron or vitamin B12, chronic diseases, and inherited blood disorders that affect the red blood cell membrane. Leukemia, however, is not one of them.
There are many things that can lead to a lack of iron in the body. In men and post-menopausal women, the most common cause is bleeding in the stomach and intestines. This can be caused by a stomach ulcer, stomach cancer, bowel cancer, or by taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Conclusion: Anemia is a common feature in newly diagnosed lymphoma patients with anemia of chronic disease as the commonest cause. It is more frequent in patients with higher stages of lymphoma especially when bone marrow is involved by lymphoma.
Iron deficiency anaemia is a well-established marker of increased risk of gastrointestinal cancer (1–10%), [10,11,12,13] and necessitates investigation in certain age groups [14].
In the blood donor study discussed earlier, those who developed cancer had ferritin levels around 127.1 ng/mL. The average for men may be over a hundred.
Ferritin: a tumor marker expressed by renal cell carcinoma.
If you suspect you might have an anemic disorder, check yourself for the following symptoms and call your doctor for further advice. A sudden lack of energy and chronic fatigue are warning signs that you might be lacking enough iron.
Fatigue — feeling too tired to manage your activities — is the most noticeable anemia symptom. Other symptoms may include: Shortness of breath (dyspnea): This is the feeling you can't catch your breath or take a deep breath. Dizziness: This is feeling lightheaded or unsteady on your feet.
Pathogenesis: Processes caused by the tumor itself can lead to a typical "anemia of chronic disease" which is normochromic, normocytic, accompanied by both a reduced number of reticulocytes and reduced iron-binding capacity. In many cases, the erythropoietin response to anemia is insufficient.
Your doctor will conduct a complete blood count (CBC) to determine if you have leukemia. This test may reveal if you have leukemic cells. Abnormal levels of white blood cells and abnormally low red blood cell or platelet counts can also indicate leukemia.
Your body needs iron to make hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is an iron-rich protein that gives the red color to blood. It carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. Anemia has three main causes: blood loss, lack of red blood cell production, and high rates of red blood cell destruction.