 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,552 | There is no direct blood test (yet) but there are plently of markers that they look for in the CBC, WBC and other blood work. That's why staying on top of the labs in critical. The numbers will fluctuate considerably from the baseline tests taken before Tx. They are really looking for trends. Anemia is perfectly normal as radiation zaps the red blood cells passing through the carotid during RT. The body replaces the red blood cells every 120 days or so. Your blood chemistry may never be quite the same as pre-Tx and that's pretty typical.
Anemia, without RT (or ceertain chemo drugs) typically is indicative of lymphoma. bone cancer or other etiology.
Gary Allsebrook
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Dx 11/22/02, SCC, 6 x 3 cm Polypoid tumor, rt tonsil, Stage III/IVA, T3N0M0 G1/2
Tx 1/28/03 - 3/19/03, Cisplatin ct x2, IMRT, bilateral, with boost, x35(69.96Gy)
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"You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14 NIV)
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