Biology and Medicine

Abstract

Assessment of severity of anemia and its effect on the quality of life (QOL) of patients suffering with various types of neoplasia

Kaiser Jamil*, Kalyani P, Ramesh Perimi, SV Kameshwari

Anemia is one of the most important key factors affecting the quality of life (QOL) which needs addressing, as it is an important domain in optimal QOL. About 60-75% of the cancer patients invariably developed anemia most of them were at advanced stages where treatment options were limited and mainly palliative. In advanced stages of cancer, QOL issues become an integral part of decision- making about various treatment options. Several key factors, including age, gender, co-morbidities, and quality of supportive care affects QOL in patients suffering from neoplasia. Fatigue appeared to exert adverse effect and impact on survival and QOL. Among the wide range of cancers anemia was most prevalent in hematological malignancies, followed by breast cancer, stomach, head and neck cancers. The probable causes that relate to various therapeutic protocols were dealt-with individually along with management strategies. In this study, we have evaluated severity of anemia for the first time in cancer patients and correlated its impact on QOL and survivability rates. As this study is limited to represent only a few types of carcinomas of different origin, many surveys that are more extensive are required to comment on the poor QOL of cancer patients burdened with anemia.