Abstract
Background Anemia is a common finding in cancer, which is caused by many factors. It is a major cause of morbidity in cancer patients, worsens disease status and impairs treatment outcome; however, little is known about the prevalence of anemia and associated factors among cancer patients during diagnosis in developing countries like Ethiopia. In response to this, we have conducted research with the aim of assessing the prevalence of anemia and associated factors among newly diagnosed patients with solid malignancy at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH), Radiotherapy center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from April to May 2014. A total of 422 newly diagnosed patients with solid malignancy attending Radiotherapy center, TASH were enrolled to assess anemia prevalence and associated factors. Data were coded, entered and analyzed using SPSS version16. Using logistic regression, chi squares, Odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals were computed to measure strength of association between variables. p-value < 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Result Out of 422 respondents, 285 (68%) were females and 153 (36%) of respondents fell into 35–49 age group with age range between 18 and 80 years and the median age of 45. Magnitude of solid cancers was gynecologic (28.9%), breast (22.7%), nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) (7.6%), colorectal (7.1%), sarcoma (6.9%), head and neck (4.5%), thyroid (3.3%), hepatoma (1.9%), and others (17.1%). The overall prevalence of anemia across different tumor was 23% and higher anemia prevalence was noted in gynecologic (37.7%) and colorectal carcinomas (26.7%). The majority of the anemic patients (68%) remained untreated for anemia. The mean trigger hemoglobin for transfusion was 7.7 g/dl. About 83.5% of anemia was mild to moderate type. Performance status (AOR = 3.344; 95% CI 1.410–7.927) and bleeding history (AOR = 3.628; 95% CI 1.800–7.314) showed statistically significant association with occurrence of anemia with p-value < 0.05. Conclusion Among solid cancers, gynecologic cancer remained the dominant one. Anemia prevalence was 23% in general, in which gynecologic and colorectal cancers were more prevalent. ECOG performance status and bleeding history showed a statistically significant association with the occurrence of anemia.
Highlights
Anemia is a common nding in cancer, which is caused by many factors
Cancer is one of the most frequent conditions associated with anemia of chronic disease; meantime, anemia is a common complication of cancer [5]. e estimated prevalence of anemia varies ranging from 30% to 90% of cancer patients during the course of their diseases [2, 5, 6]
Among the treatmentnaïve newly diagnosed con rmed solid cancer patients visited the radiotherapy center during the study period, 422 study participants were determined with the help of a single population proportion
Summary
Anemia is a condition that develops when there is no su cient healthy red blood cell, which is characterized either by a reduction in HGB, RBC or HCT count below normal levels [1,2,3,4]. Cancer itself can directly cause or exacerbate anemia either by suppressing hematopoiesis through bone marrow in ltration or production of cytokines that lead to iron sequestration, inhibit release and synthesis of endogenous erythropoietin, reduce the response of erythroid. Tumor cells are known to produce cytokines such as IL-1, interferon-γ, Il-6 and TNF-α that may be able to decrease HGB levels by hemolysis, suppression of erythropoiesis, and impairment of erythropoietin response of erythroid medullary precursors [8, 12, 13]. Anemia is a major contributing factor to tumor hypoxia, which worsens the results of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, contributes to the progression of cancer and prolongs the duration of the treatment time and lessens the survival rate [12, 15, 16, 18]. Anemia causes energy imbalance and emotional distress (fatigue) [21]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
