Abstract D066: A prospective study on chemotherapy-induced anemia using serial hemoglobin measurement in cancer patients undergoing treatment at National Hospital Abuja, Nigeria

Anaemia is a common complication of myelo-suppressive chemotherapy. Severe anaemia is usually treated with red blood cell transfusion, however, mild-to-moderate anaemia are most often managed conservatively. There is no universally established benchmark for haemoglobin of patients selected for cancer chemotherapy to guide a global best practice and enhance patients treatment outcome and their quality of life. Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the change in Hb levels of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy measuring Hb after treatment. Materials & Methods: A total of 100 voluntary patients with solid malignancies were recruited within a period of eight (8) months. Baseline demographic characteristics and type of tumours were documented. Pre-treatment Hb level was measured on the first day of consultation and repeated every 2 weeks during and after the therapy until after three consecutive Hb readings (6 weeks). Results & Analysis: All data were analysed using IBM statistical package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20. 88 of the 100 cancer patients were female. Breast 68% (68) was the commonest site of tumour. Prevalence of anaemia in the study was 72% and majority of the patients had their Hb within the range of 9.60 g/dl to 10.62 g/dl at the end of their treatment. At P-value >0.05 and standard deviation there was no statistical significance on distribution of mean haemoglobin values, were independent of sex and type of treatment. Conclusion and Recommendation: Our results show that chemotherapy has no significant effect on Hb level between 11 g/dl to 12 g/dl. Prevalence of anaemia in the cohort of patients was 72%. We recommend a benchmark minimum of Hb of 11 g/dl for all patients being selected for chemotherapy in Nigeria.