Anemia is one of the side effects caused by a disease like cancer and its treatment. While anemia can indicate the presence of cancer it is also caused by cancer. Anemia is a blood disorder which is caused by the lack of iron and the number of red blood cells in the hemoglobin.

In a person with anemia, the hemoglobin count will be abnormally low. The normal development process of hemoglobin is called hematopeiesis. This process depends on 3 factors. The presence of stem cells that is responsible for the maturity of the cells, bone marrow, which is essential for the functioning of stem cells, and a complex growth system of the cells. Anemia affects all these three functions in the body.

Anemia by itself is a debilitating disease which affects every tissue, muscle and organ in the body. Some of the main symptoms of anemia are tiredness or fatigue, and sometimes depression. They affect the quality of life for the patient. The incidence of anemia can also be the precursor for a degenerative or a chronic disease which is underlying. Anemia is present in nearly 30 percent of the cancer patients. It becomes even more important to treat the anemia so that the patient gets the resistance to fight the cancer cells. The presence of anemia in a cancer patient increases the risk of death by 60 percent.
Cancer also hampers the functioning of bone marrow which is responsible for producing new blood cells. Due to the ill-functioning of bone marrow there is a decrease in red blood cells and it leads to anemia. Colon cancer causes bleeding and leads to a further decrease in blood cells and helping the progress of anemia. Anemia caused by cancer is characterized as anemia of chronic diseases. This particular anemia is caused when the bone marrow is affected in a person.

Some of the cancer treatments like surgery can cause anemia too. Radiation therapy can affect the bone marrow and leads to anemia. Some of the chemotherapy drugs are so strong that they hamper the red cell production. In a normal person the blood cells live for 120 days. Cancer causes the death of red blood cells prematurely and also stops the fresh production. The gap in supply and demand of the red blood cells causes anemia very quickly in a cancer patient. There are several types of cancer that have been identified to cause anemia like leukemia, myeloma, lymphoma and carcinomas.

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