Anemia is a condition that develops when your body doesn’t have enough healthy red blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen to your organs and tissues, and low red blood cell count causes symptoms like tiredness, dizziness, shortness of breath, and chest discomfort.
While it can affect anyone, anemia is particularly common in people with cancer. Unmanaged anemia can derail cancer treatment, delay therapy, and affect your quality of life, but treatment can help you stay comfortable and on schedule.
Maria Scouros, MD, and our team at Houston Cancer Institute in Houston and Katy, Texas, offer dedicated anemia care for cancer patients, and we take it seriously. Here’s what you should know about why it’s so common and how treatment can help.
There are a few reasons why anemia is so common in cancer patients. First, certain types of cancer interfere directly with red blood cell production. For people with cancers like leukemia, lymphomas, multiple myeloma, or tumors that spread to the bone marrow, the cancer itself is often the cause of anemia.
Cancer treatment can also cause anemia. Chemotherapy and radiation target and damage rapidly dividing cells, but these treatments don’t differentiate between cancerous cells and healthy ones. That means cells in bone marrow are damaged too, leading to reduced red blood cell production.
Inflammation is another common factor. Cancer-related inflammation triggers release of cytokines, which disrupt iron regulation and suppress red blood cell production.
Bleeding and blood loss: Tumors in areas like your gastrointestinal tract may bleed slowly over time, causing blood loss and contributing to iron-deficiency anemia.
Last but not least, cancer can affect appetite or digestion. Nutritional deficiencies can develop, and deficiencies of iron, vitamin B12, or folate can negatively impact red blood cell production.
Anemia in cancer patients contributes to fatigue, shortness of breath, dizziness, and decreased exercise tolerance, and it may even affect the efficacy of cancer treatments. That means prompt recognition and management are essential, both for your comfort and maintaining treatment momentum.
At Houston Cancer Institute, we’re trained to recognize early signs of anemia and we treat it with a personalized, multilayered approach. Our goal is to address both your symptoms and underlying causes, and we start with a thorough evaluation.
We do blood tests to assess your hemoglobin, iron levels, and nutrient status. We also look for signs of inflammation, ongoing blood loss, or bone marrow involvement to identify the root cause and guide targeted care.
Where appropriate, we recommend dietary adjustments and oral supplements to support red blood cell production. Alongside this, we recommend pacing daily activities, staying hydrated, and combining rest with gentle movement to help manage fatigue.
Iron supplements are an effective option for many people with iron-deficiency anemia. But if oral iron supplements are inadequate or poorly absorbed, intravenous iron may be a better option to support hemoglobin recovery more effectively.
For anemia caused by bone marrow suppression, ESAs like epoetin alfa or darbepoetin can stimulate red blood cell production. Their use is carefully weighed based on individual risk profiles, with the goal of reducing the need for transfusions.
Red blood cell transfusions can provide rapid relief from severe or symptomatic anemia. At Houston Cancer Institute, we strive to coordinate transfusions safely and efficiently to support symptom relief and keep your cancer treatment plan on track.
If anemia symptoms like exhaustion or breathlessness are affecting your daily life, don’t wait. Contact Houston Cancer Institute today for expert evaluation and personalized care to help you regain your strength and resilience.
