Why is myelosuppression easy after chemotherapy?

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Why is myelosuppression easy after chemotherapy? Is G-CSF( Granulocyte colony stimulating factor) injection the only option?

Why is myelosuppression easy after chemotherapy? Is G-CSF( Granulocyte colony stimulating factor) injecction the only option?

Bone marrow suppression is a common side effect during chemotherapy, and G-CSF injection is also a commonly used method after bone marrow suppression.

So, what is bone marrow suppression? What is suppressed? Do all patients need to be injected with G-CSF?

Why is myelosuppression easy after chemotherapy? Is G-CSF( Granulocyte colony stimulating factor) the only option?

1. Why is myelosuppression easy after chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy is an important means of cancer treatment. Because chemotherapy is a cytotoxic drug, it can inhibit the cells that divide rapidly.

Bone marrow is the hematopoietic tissue of the human body, and the cells proliferate vigorously. Therefore, chemotherapy will interfere with the hematopoietic function of the bone marrow, and then Suppression of bone marrow function occurs.

The scary thing is that chemotherapy not only kills white blood cells, but also affects the subsequent supply of white blood cells .

If the number of white blood cells drops to a certain critical value, doctors often have to reduce the dose of chemotherapy or delay chemotherapy, and the direct consequence of this is the effect of chemotherapy Great discounts, or even interruption of chemotherapy, eventually lead to tumor recurrence and metastasis.

2. Bone marrow suppression, who is “suppressing”?

Most of them usually have leukopenia first, and then thrombocytopenia. The former is more serious than the latter, and a few can cause severe anemia, which can cause bone marrow aplasia in severe cases. These chemotherapy drugs include, docetaxel and so on.

Myelosuppression is a common side effect of chemotherapy. Because the survival time of neutrophils is the shortest, usually 6-8 hours, myelosuppression is first manifested as a decrease in neutrophils and is most obviously affected by chemotherapy;

he survival time of platelets is 5 hours . ~7 days, the decline appears later and lighter; the survival time of red blood cells is 120 days, less affected by chemotherapy, and the decline is usually not obvious.

Most chemotherapeutic drugs can cause different degrees of bone marrow suppression, such as paclitaxel, vinorelbine, irinotecan, gemcitabine and other drugs, and a few drugs such as carboplatin, gemcitabine, etc., the decrease of platelets is more obvious.

After chemotherapy, in order to give the bone marrow cells time to recover, chemotherapy is often performed at intervals, and many chemotherapy is performed every 3 to 4 weeks.

3. Why can’t white blood cells be allowed to drop?

Although myelosuppression is temporary, if there are complications, the consequences are very serious. It can be combined with severe infection and bleeding of important organs, which is life-threatening.

We all know that white blood cells are the “guards” of the human body to fight against diseases.

The reduction of white blood cells will directly affect the body’s immune system, which in turn will lead to a decrease in our resistance and susceptibility to infection. The longer the lack of granulocytes, the greater the risk of infection.

When the red blood cells decrease , the human body will appear anemia and fatigue.

If the platelets are reduced, the blood clotting mechanism is reduced, and bleeding symptoms will appear. Therefore, if cancer patients have low platelets during treatment, they must not exercise vigorously to prevent bleeding.

In order to successfully complete the prescribed course of chemotherapy while ensuring the curative effect and minimize the number of leukocyte cancer patients during chemotherapy, other means are often needed to assist in increasing the level of white blood cells, such as G-CSF injection.

4. Do all patients need to receive G-CSF injection?

Clinically, in order to increase the level of white blood cells, the commonly used method in Western medicine is to inject white blood cells. Of course, not all patients need white blood cell injections.

Gradually recovered. The doctor will judge whether it is necessary to give a G-CSF injection according to the patient’s condition after chemotherapy and the degree of bone marrow suppression.

Shengbaizhen can quickly increase the number of white blood cells, which is equivalent to a “ripening agent”, which can promote the rapid maturation of “immature” neutrophils in the bone marrow and release them into the peripheral blood. Although this can quickly increase the number of white blood cells, But it is also a temporary method and should not be used repeatedly to avoid excessive fatigue of white blood cells. This is why many patients have good results when using Shengbai injection for the first few times, but there is no obvious effect later.

In addition, many patients reported that their bones hurt after receiving G-CSF injection, and their white blood cells still decreased without receiving G-CSF injection.

So, besides G-CSF injection, is there any other way to increase white blood cells?

5. Diet and nutrition for patients with low white blood cell count

Patients with low white blood cell count should increase the intake of some foods rich in high-quality protein (such as eggs, lean meat, milk products, soybean delicacies) on the basis of a balanced diet , so as to provide raw materials for the regeneration of white blood cells. Eat more to balance excessive free radicals in the body and reduce the side effects of chemotherapy.

It is not recommended to consume dietary remedies arbitrarily, such as large intake of trotter soup, five red soup, etc., to avoid malnutrition caused by improper diet.

For malnourished patients, it is recommended to supplement nutrition appropriately under the guidance of the competent doctor or clinical nutritionist, and adjust the diet according to the changes of the condition.

Patients with low white blood cell count must pay attention to food hygiene to avoid infection; try to avoid going to crowded places and wear masks when going out.

In addition, special attention should be paid to the diet and nutrition of patients with high-dose chemotherapy (stem cell transplantation).

If they lack appetite or cannot eat normally, they can use enteral and parenteral nutrition support to supplement nutrition under the guidance of a doctor in charge or a clinical nutritionist. .

During the entire period of high-dose chemotherapy, the patient’s diet should be light, soft, and easy to digest, avoid sticky, hard, irritating, sweet, and over-cooked foods, and pay attention to a reasonable mix of nutrients.

6. Food hygiene for patients with low white blood cell count

Large doses of chemotherapeutic drugs will harm healthy cells as well as tumor cells, especially those cells that proliferate as fast as tumor cells, such as bone marrow cells, hair follicle cells, gastrointestinal epithelial cells, etc., which can easily cause a sharp decrease in white blood cells, or even decrease Zero, resulting in the body unable to resist the invasion of foreign bacteria.

Therefore, during this period, special attention should be paid to dietary hygiene and food choices, and the body should be ensured to have sufficient nutrient intake to provide raw materials for the regeneration of white blood cells.