Could a low red blood cell count mean cancer?
1 answer
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Last updated: May 25, 2011
Q
I have a friend that just found out that she has to take venofer for low iron. She said that her body is not producing enough red blood cells. She is also a previous cancer patient. Could this mean that her cancer is back?
A
Andrew Putnam, M.D. is the director of the Palliative Care Program at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and Georgetown University.
100% helpful
There are many reasons for a person to have low iron and low numbers of red blood cells. In a woman, it could be blood loss from regular periods (menses) that leads to the low iron. Diet and not eating enough iron can also be a reason among others. Cancer can be a reason for low red blood cell production. So if someone is a former cancer patient and the low iron is new or was a problem when she had cancer, she should go and ask her doctor about it. But there are other likely causes.
