I touched on this in a post thread, but thought it needed its own, since I dont hear much about it, and it may be important, at least to me it is. If not, I guess I can take this down not to duplicate, but items do get lost in threads.

As mentioned, my new treating hospital oncologist said for me to stop taking epogen shots to treat my anemia, due to the increased risk of speeding up cancer growth, which many know, and knew myself, but it's suppose to be safe when administered under certain blood levels.

I spoke to my local oncologist, who administers my epogen injections, and will stop giving them to me for now, since there may be active cancer, and will do a tranfusion next time instead, when the hemaglobin gets under 8. My hemsglobin is 10.7, still low, but doesn't that doesn't require an injection. My doctor believes my recent blood drop was due to the radiation I had in August, during surgery. I initially saw this doctor as my hematologist fout years ago for a gentic disorder, which caused hemolysis, anemia, requiring transfusions, and maintenance epogen shots. Anemia also increases the risk of cancer, like many other illnesses, and also makes you more radio and chemo resistant. After chemo, my kidneys were damaged, and needed transfusions, and epogen shots more often, so now I have several causes of anemia..hereditary, illness, and Chemo induced.

Epogen shots helps the bone marrow, and kidneys produce more red blood cells. In turn, oxygen is disturbed throughout the bodies organs, and cells. There is risk that epogen can speed up cancers, not cause them, and can increase the tumor size supposedly when it is given when your Hemaglobin is higher than 12, which is almost normal, but otherwise, it should be safe, and helps with the QOL. There are protocols to stop injections when hemaglobin reaches 10 to avoid this any problems. Shots should also not be given during certain times, like when getting radiation treatment. The alternstive to injections are blood tranfusions, which are more costly, require hospitalization, are inconvenient, and carry thier own risks, and you have to wait until your Hemaglobin gets really low.. 8 to get them, so you may be anemic for a longer period of time, but tranfusions do act quickly, and may last longer than the injections...all sounds good, maybe better, but maybe not.

Blood tranfusions have shown to cause more cancer recurrences than those that don't have it, especially in certain cancers. In oral, pharynx, nose and sinus Cancers, those that had blood transfusions, had a 71 percent chance of recurrence versus 31 percent in those that do not have blood transfusions. I had 5 recurrences in less than 3 years.

As mentioned, anemia can cause you to be more radioresistant, and even Chemoresistant due to tumor cell hypoxia, which is harder to treat, and has poorer outcome, and overall survival. There are some drugs, and some in development, therapies to treat anemia, as well as incresing the oxgenation of hypoxic cancer cells, but this has to be studied further, and will probably see more about Hypoxia in the future, along with angiogenesis drugs, since that what the Cancer needs, new blood supplies to grow (angiogenesis), and that leaves the tumor are in a hypoxic state, and more difficult to treat.

I'm getting chemo startying next week, and radiation begins the week after, so what do you do?

1. Get the epogen shots, so you will not be as anemic, and have better tumor control and be less radio and Chemoresistant with increased oxygenation, but run a risk of speeding up cancer and tumor size?

2. Get blood infusions, but, by that time, you will be anemic for an extended period for it to be low enough to get an infusion, and then run the risk of cancer recurrences?

3. Havesting your own blood cancels out the increased cancer recurrence risk, but doesn't solve the problem cause you are putting low oxygen blood back in your body.

4. See about oxygenation treatments, like HBO, hypoix drug drug infusins to increase oxygenation, but that may not be possoble, feasable.

I will have to ask my Radiation Oncologist, what is best, since he did an abstract about anemia and hypoxia, but wanted to put this out there, since I hear very little about it.

Can't comment on a lot of this. Just want to say that harvesting your own blood then transfusing back "low oxygen blood" is not really a problem. The red blood cells have 4 oxygen binding sites on them. When we breathe in the oxygen then goes into the blood and attaches to the red blood cells . As the blood circulates in the body the oxygen unbinds from the red cells and is utilised where it is needed. The deoxygenated blood then picks up more oxygen from the lungs again. Transfusing red cells gives your body more oxygen carrying capacity, but they will only attract and bind to oxygen once they have been transfused into you. This also depends on how good your lung function is and whether you have the capacity to take in oxygen with each breath. Once the red blood cells are in you they will pick up the oxygen, so I would not discount this process .
Tammy

Thank you for a thorough, and medically sound response, Tammy. My lungs are fine. I also have a genetic enzyme deffeciency, called g6pd for short, which destroys my RBC when exposed to an oxident or oxidative stress like when sick, certain medications, foods, chemicals, and destoys the RBC faster than they can be replaced causing hemolytic anemia, but that should be episodic, so I will ask about the blood harvesting, but I don't know if there is enough time, maybe? Thanks again.

Probably not enough time for harvesting as it will leave you even lower and be detrimental to you during treatment. Personally I'd go with the transfusions ASAP. ood luck... I'm pulling for you.

Thanks Cheyrl. That's what I thought. Blood tranfusions are not usually given until the blood, I go by the hemaglobin goes under 8, and is now 10.7, up from 9.2 a few weeks ago. The Lowestbwas 6.2 once, and tjouhtbi wad dying andbprobaly would have withoutvavtrnsfusion.I'm going to ask my oncologist when I go or my first Erbitux infusion on Tuesday, if I can get a boost..athletes do it, called blood doping lol. My levels will drop more quickly, due to the Chemo and radiation, being ocidstive, which happened before, and hate to wait until it drops. I'll post why happens. Like you mentined before, diet may help, and going to get those Beets and greens out!