Comprehensive Evaluation of Red Blood Cell Indices and Their Abnormalities in Cancer Patients.

Objective: Cancer is a common cause of mortality and morbidity, and anemia is a major public health issue globally. This study aimed to determine the morphological types of anemia that occur in newly diagnosed patients with solid malignancies.

Methods: This retrospective study was performed on a total of 345 cancer patients to record the types of anemia found in patients with solid tumors using calculation of indices (MCV, MCH, and MCHC) in blood gathered from patients with various solid cancers.

Results: Data showed that 260 (75.3%) were female, and 85 (24.7%) were male. The age range was 16-97 years. Various types of cancer were enrolled in the study, including breast (98 cases), female genital tract (70 cases), colorectal (86 cases), head and neck (36 cases), bladder (18 cases), prostate (18 cases), lung (eight cases), liver (eight cases), and lymphoma (three cases) cancers. The morphological classification of anemia was as follows: 167 cases (48.4%) normocytic normochromic anemia, 177 (51.3%) microcytic hypochromic anemia; and one (0.3%) macrocytic anemia. The incidence of microcytic hypochromic anemia was very common in patients with colorectal cancer (55 cases) and rare in patients with lung cancer (four cases).

Conclusion: Approximately 48.4% and 51.3% of cancer patients had normocytic and microcytic hypochromic anemia, respectively. Increased examination and more intense treatment procedures is required for those individuals with cancer.