According Samuel Rivera, oncologist at the Oncology Service in the National Medical Center Siglo XXI of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), about 30 percent of patients suffering from some form of cancer develop a bone complication or a substantial decrease in their immune response, due to the disease itself and side effects of chemotherapy treatment.
At a press conference, the expert said that there are therapies that can prevent or control these effects now a day. He noted that, according to the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), the disease is the third leading cause of death in Mexico, and it is estimated that each year 128,000 new cases are detected.
Rivera said that hormonal treatments, mainly used for breast and prostate cancer, favor the development of osteoporosis. Hormone therapy, he explained, promotes the disruption of normal metabolism and promotes bone decalcification and the appearance of osteopenia (condition in which bone mineral density is lower than normal), which can be an early precursor to osteoporosis.
Rivera noted that an adverse reaction to chemotherapy is neutropenia, which is an abnormal decrease of neutrophils — the most abundant type of white blood cells. They form the first line of body’s defense, protecting us against infections by destroying bacteria in the blood.
“The neutropenia is detected by a white blood cell count when a hematic biometry is done. In general this blood test should be done periodically to patients receiving chemotherapy,” he said.
He added that if a patient treated with chemotherapy presents fever after it, may have febrile neutropenia.
Currently, there are medications that prevent chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, so the IMSS’s Oncologist advised physicians who treat people with cancer to consider performing regular blood count tests on their patients.
For its part, the Mexican Association Against Cancer advises patients to bring a bag containing water, crackers and peppermint or ginger tea to their chemotherapy session; in order to reduce nausea, stomach discomfort and dehydration.
Source: Notimex, INEGI
