Hematological abnormalities before and after initiation of cancer treatment among breast cancer patients attending at the University of Gondar comprehensive specialized hospital cancer treatment center

Abstract

Background Breast cancer is the most frequent and fatal cancer type globally. The fatality rate of breast cancer is mostly due to disease complications like hematological alterations. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the hematological abnormalities before, during, and after the initiation of cancer treatment in breast cancer patients at the University of Gondar comprehensive specialized hospital. Methodology Hematological profiles were collected from 267 breast cancer patients who attended the cancer treatment center from September 2017 to August 2021. A data extraction sheet was used to extract data from the patient’s medical chart, including sociodemography, clinical, and hematological profiles. EPI info version 3.5.1 and SPSS Version 25 softwares were used for data entrance and analysis, respectively. Descriptive statistics were summarized using frequency and percentage. The Friedman test followed by a Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare the mean difference between the hematological profiles at zero and after the 4th and 8th cycles of treatment. Result Of the total participants, 91% were females, and the median age of the study participants was 45 (IQR = 36, 55) years. Red blood cell, white blood cell, and lymphocyte counts, as well as hematocrit and hemoglobin values, were significantly reduced after the initiation of cancer treatment, while the platelet count and red cell distribution width were significantly increased. The prevalence of anemia was 21.7% (95% CI: 16.6, 26.8), 22.7% (95% CI: 17.6, 27.8), and 26.4% (95% CI: 21.3, 31.5) before, during, and after the initiation of cancer treatment, respectively. The prevalence of leukopenia before, during, and after treatment was 9.7%, 18.8%, and 15.1%, respectively. Finally the prevalence of thrombocytopenia was 6.3%, 3.4%, and 8% at before, during, and after treatment, respectively. Conclusion This study concluded that many hematological parameters were significantly affected by the breast cancer treatment. Therefore, proper patient follow-up and provide appropriate interventions related to their hematological abnormalities is crucial. It is also important to conduct further prospective studies to confirm the findings of this study.

Effects of Adriamycin-Cytoxan Chemotherapy on Hematological and Electrolyte Parameters among Breast Cancer Patients

“…In line with previous study ndings [14,29], signi cant differences in mean MPV, MCV, MCH, and MCHC values were not observed before AC treatment and after the completion of the 3 rd cycle of AC treatment. This indicates that the AC treatment didn't affect all blood cell indices.…”

“…Contrarily, signi cant differences in monocyte and basophil were not observed between treated and untreated BC patients. This nding is in line with studies conducted previously [13,14]. However, another study [12] showed that a signi cant difference in monocyte and basophil count was observed after 3 rd cycle of AC treatment.…”

“…Similar to the previous study [14], the RDW value of AC treated group was signi cantly higher than the untreated group in our study. High RDW values are associated with drug-induced in ammation, oxidative stress, and disrupted erythropoiesis [15].…”

“…In our study, there was a signi cant decrement in mean TWB count among BC patients with the 3 rd cycle AC treatment. This nding is in line with studies conducted before [11][12][13][14]. According to a previous study, AC treatment promotes oxidative stress in the bone marrow [15].…”

“…In this study, the lymphocyte count was signi cantly reduced in the treatment group. Studies conducted before also revealed the reduction of lymphocytes [12][13][14]. As reported in the previous studies [23,24], this nding in our study indicates, chemotherapy is also associated with adverse effects on non-target tissues and affects immune responses.…”