ABSTRACT
Introduction: Carcinoma Breast is the second most commonmalignancyaffecting women. Adjuvant chemotherapy is themainstay treatment modality along with surgery. Anemiaand thrombocytopenia are the hematological complicationsin patients with breast cancer who undergo chemotherapy.This study was carried out with an objective to identify theproportion of anemia and the requirement of Packed Red Cellstransfusions in these patients.Material and methods: This is ahospital based prospectivestudy, done for a period of one and a half years from January2016 to June 2017.As per the inclusion criteria125 consecutivecases who underwent chemotherapy for Carcinoma Breastat Department of Radiotherapy, Govt. Medical College,Thiruvananthapuram were included for the study. Therequirement of Packed Red Cell (PRC) was assessed in thesepatients. Data was analysed with SPSS software (version 21).Results: Among the 125 patients, 60% of patients wereanemic in prechemotherapyphase with a preponderance ofmild anemia,haemoglobin (Hb) 11-11.9gm/dl (as per theWHO classification of anemia in non pregnant females).Inpost chemotherapy phase the prevalence of anemia was94.4% withincreasing severity; majority (56%) of patients hadmoderate anemia (Hb 8-10.9gm/dl). During chemotherapy,22.4% of the study population required PRC transfusion.Conclusion: Due to the high prevalence of chemotherapyinduced anemia and itseffects on quality of life (QOL), evenmild degrees of anemia should be detected and evaluatedbefore commencing chemotherapy. PRC transfusion shouldbe reserved for patients with severe anemia
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Breast cancer is the commonest cancer inurban Indian females, and the second commonest in the ruralIndian women. The estimated number of breast cancer casesin India during 2012 was 145,000 cases with an incidencerate of 25.8 per 100,000 women. In Kerala, Breast cancer hasan annual incidence of 14.9/100,000 population. This studywas carried out with an objective to identify the proportion ofthrombocytopenia and the requirement of platelet transfusionsin these patients.Material and methods: This was a hospital based prospectivestudy, done in the Department of Transfusion medicine fora period of one and a half years from January 2016 to June2017. As per the inclusion criteria 125 consecutive cases whounderwent chemotherapy for Carcinoma Breast at Departmentof Radiotherapy, Govt. Medical College, Thiruvananthapuramwere included for the study. The requirement of platelettransfusions were assessed in these patients. Data wasanalysed with SPSS software (version 21).Results: Among the 125 patients, thrombocytopenia wasnoticed in 5.4% study population in prechemotherapy phase,majority having only grade I thrombocytopenia. In Postchemo phase thrombocytopenia was observed in 11.2% of thestudy group, grade I thrombocytopenia in 8.8% and grade IIthrombocytopenia 2.4% of patients. Platelet transfusion wasrequired in 5.4% of the patients during chemotherapy.Conclusion: Due to the high prevalence of chemotherapyinduced hematological complications, even mild degrees ofthrombocytopenia should be detected and evaluated beforecommencing chemotherapy. Platelet transfusion should bereserved for patients who were really required. This studygives an insight regarding the proportion of thrombocytopeniain patients with carcinoma breast undergoing chemotherapyand their platelet transfusion requirements, which will help intaking care of these patients and inventory management of theblood banks.