Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsTYpesCancer and LeukocytosisCancer and LeukopeniaPreventing Infections
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
TYpes
Cancer and Leukocytosis
Cancer and Leukopenia
Preventing Infections
Certain cancers can cause high white blood cell (WBCs) counts, or in some cases, low levels. WBCs, also calledleukocytes, are immune system cells that fight pathogens in your body. A high white blood cell count is calledleukocytosis. A lowwhite blood cellcount is calledleukopenia.
A high white blood cell count is usually a sign of inflammation or infection, but it can be due to a blood-related cancer like leukemia or lymphoma. Researchers study the role of white blood cell counts in other cancers, too, including cervical cancer and lung cancer.WBCs can be lower after cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation.
Types of White Blood Cells
Cancer can lead to a high or low WBC count, depending on factors that include the type of cancer and treatment.
High and Low White Blood Cell Counts
Leukocytosis can occur with cancers that affect white blood cells, including blood andbone marrow cancerssuch as:
These cancers can cause out-of-control reproduction of some types of blood cells. When there are too many white blood cells, they can crowd out healthy cells and disrupt normal function and cell production. Studies find leukocytosis also can occur with other cancers, including lung cancer, or serve as a biomarker for cancer risk or cancer prognosis.A very high, cancer-related WBC count greater than 100,000 per microliter is called hyperleukocytosis. Some people may experience hyperleukocytosis symptoms such as:
Hyperleukocytosis requires prompt treatment called leukapheresis.This treatment involves filtering the leukocytes from your blood and returning the healthy cells.
Most of the time, though, leukocytosis indicates there is an infection in your body. When this happens, your immune system releases cells to fight it off and heal your body. This causes the number of white blood cells in your body to increase.
Causes of High White Blood Cell CountsWhen an infection is causing a high white blood cell count, you may experience symptoms such as fever and fatigue.Other causes of elevated WBCs can include:AsthmaAllergiesRheumatoid arthritisA severe burn or burnsPregnancyThe use of certain medicationsHigh white blood cells are generally treated according to the underlying cause. For example, if an infection is causing your white blood cells to become elevated, you may be given antiviral or antibiotic medication to help get the infection under control.
Causes of High White Blood Cell Counts
When an infection is causing a high white blood cell count, you may experience symptoms such as fever and fatigue.Other causes of elevated WBCs can include:AsthmaAllergiesRheumatoid arthritisA severe burn or burnsPregnancyThe use of certain medicationsHigh white blood cells are generally treated according to the underlying cause. For example, if an infection is causing your white blood cells to become elevated, you may be given antiviral or antibiotic medication to help get the infection under control.
When an infection is causing a high white blood cell count, you may experience symptoms such as fever and fatigue.Other causes of elevated WBCs can include:
High white blood cells are generally treated according to the underlying cause. For example, if an infection is causing your white blood cells to become elevated, you may be given antiviral or antibiotic medication to help get the infection under control.
Many of the same cancers that can cause a high white blood cell count can also cause your WBCs to be too low. When cancer occurs in the bone marrow, it can cause reduced production of white blood cells. Some of the cancers that can cause your white blood cell count to be too low include:
Cancer treatments can lead to a drop in the number of WBCs in your blood, too.Chemotherapydrugs disrupt cancer cell growth but can also damage healthy cells like white blood cells.Radiation therapycan lower white blood cell counts for similar reasons.
While lower white blood cell counts may occur following cancer treatment, WBCs also may provide a key to cancer treatment. A small 2024 study identifies specific WBCs, active in breast cancer, with immune system functions that may one day lead to new cancerimmunotherapies.
Causes of Low White Blood Cell CountsApart from cancer and cancer treatment, other causes of leukopenia can include:Certainbone marrow disorders(sometimes considered a preleukemia)Infections like COVID-19, Epstein-Barr, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)Chronic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis orlupus, as well as chronic idiopathic neutropenia (neutropenia without a clear cause)Nutrient deficiencies including vitamin B12, copper, or folate
Causes of Low White Blood Cell Counts
Apart from cancer and cancer treatment, other causes of leukopenia can include:Certainbone marrow disorders(sometimes considered a preleukemia)Infections like COVID-19, Epstein-Barr, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)Chronic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis orlupus, as well as chronic idiopathic neutropenia (neutropenia without a clear cause)Nutrient deficiencies including vitamin B12, copper, or folate
Apart from cancer and cancer treatment, other causes of leukopenia can include:
Since white blood cells help defend your body against pathogens, too few WBCs can increase your risk of infections. For people with cancer, theirrisk of infectionis even higher.Some tips for staying infection-free while undergoing cancer treatment include:
Severe infections can lead tosepsis, which occurs when chemicals meant to attack pathogens cause widespread inflammation in your body. Yet even minor infections can quickly progress if you have cancer or are undergoing cancer treatment.
Be sure to discuss prevention strategies and any signs of infection (like fever, chills, and body aches) with your healthcare provider.
Summary
Certain cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, can cause your white blood cell count to be too high or too low.
When the number of WBCs in your body is low, you are at a higher risk of infections. It’s important to work closely with your healthcare provider to monitor your blood cell numbers and come up with strategies to prevent infections if you have cancer or are going through treatment for cancer.
16 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Wong JYY, Bassig BA, Loftfield E, Hu W, Freedman ND, Ji BT,et al.White blood cell count and risk of incident lung cancer in the UK Biobank.JNCI Cancer Spectr. 2019 Dec 12;4(2):pkz102. doi:10.1093/jncics/pkz102Kim KH, Sim NS, Chang JS, Kim YB.Tumor immune microenvironment in cancer patients with leukocytosis.Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2020 Jul;69(7):1265-1277. doi:10.1007/s00262-020-02545-4Tamang T, Baral S, Paing MP.Classification of White Blood Cells: A Comprehensive Study Using Transfer Learning Based on Convolutional Neural Networks.Diagnostics (Basel). 2022 Nov 22;12(12):2903. doi:10.3390/diagnostics12122903MedlinePlus.Low white blood cell count and cancer.National Library of Medicine.Low white blood cell count and cancer.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Blood and bone marrow cancer.Tavakkoli M, Wilkins C, Mones J, Mauro M.The Significance of Leukocytosis in Malignancies: A Novel Paradigm Between Leukocytosis, G-CSF, Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells and Prognosis.Blood2018; 132 (Supplement 1): 4944. doi:10.1182/blood-2018-99-117484Pryds K, Rasmussen LE, Andersen NH.Fatal right-sided heart failure due to leukostasis in a patient with leukemic transformation of myelodysplastic syndrome.Clin Case Rep. 2018;7(1):115-119. doi:10.1002/ccr3.1929Wheatley TT, Foster Castiglione H, Phong K, Yoon M.Hyperleukocytosis in acute myeloid leukemia: Considerations for inpatient diagnosis and management. Clin J Oncol Nurs. 2023;27(6):589-593. doi:10.1188/23.CJON.589-593Zhang D, Zhu Y, Jin Y, Kaweme NM, Dong Y.Leukapheresis and hyperleukocytosis, Past and future.Int J Gen Med. 2021;14:3457-3467. doi:10.2147/IJGM.S321787MedlinePlus.White blood count (WBC).American Cancer Society.Neutropenia (Low White Blood Cell Counts).Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.Understanding blood counts.American Cancer Society.Why people with cancer are more likely to get infections.Grasset EM, Deshpande A, Lee JW, Cho Y, Shin SM, Coyne EM,et al.Mapping the breast tumor microenvironment: proximity analysis reveals spatial relationships between macrophage subtypes and metastasis-initiating cancer cells.Oncogene. 2024 Aug 20. doi: 10.1038/s41388-024-03127-9Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Staying healthy during cancer treatment.
16 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Wong JYY, Bassig BA, Loftfield E, Hu W, Freedman ND, Ji BT,et al.White blood cell count and risk of incident lung cancer in the UK Biobank.JNCI Cancer Spectr. 2019 Dec 12;4(2):pkz102. doi:10.1093/jncics/pkz102Kim KH, Sim NS, Chang JS, Kim YB.Tumor immune microenvironment in cancer patients with leukocytosis.Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2020 Jul;69(7):1265-1277. doi:10.1007/s00262-020-02545-4Tamang T, Baral S, Paing MP.Classification of White Blood Cells: A Comprehensive Study Using Transfer Learning Based on Convolutional Neural Networks.Diagnostics (Basel). 2022 Nov 22;12(12):2903. doi:10.3390/diagnostics12122903MedlinePlus.Low white blood cell count and cancer.National Library of Medicine.Low white blood cell count and cancer.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Blood and bone marrow cancer.Tavakkoli M, Wilkins C, Mones J, Mauro M.The Significance of Leukocytosis in Malignancies: A Novel Paradigm Between Leukocytosis, G-CSF, Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells and Prognosis.Blood2018; 132 (Supplement 1): 4944. doi:10.1182/blood-2018-99-117484Pryds K, Rasmussen LE, Andersen NH.Fatal right-sided heart failure due to leukostasis in a patient with leukemic transformation of myelodysplastic syndrome.Clin Case Rep. 2018;7(1):115-119. doi:10.1002/ccr3.1929Wheatley TT, Foster Castiglione H, Phong K, Yoon M.Hyperleukocytosis in acute myeloid leukemia: Considerations for inpatient diagnosis and management. Clin J Oncol Nurs. 2023;27(6):589-593. doi:10.1188/23.CJON.589-593Zhang D, Zhu Y, Jin Y, Kaweme NM, Dong Y.Leukapheresis and hyperleukocytosis, Past and future.Int J Gen Med. 2021;14:3457-3467. doi:10.2147/IJGM.S321787MedlinePlus.White blood count (WBC).American Cancer Society.Neutropenia (Low White Blood Cell Counts).Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.Understanding blood counts.American Cancer Society.Why people with cancer are more likely to get infections.Grasset EM, Deshpande A, Lee JW, Cho Y, Shin SM, Coyne EM,et al.Mapping the breast tumor microenvironment: proximity analysis reveals spatial relationships between macrophage subtypes and metastasis-initiating cancer cells.Oncogene. 2024 Aug 20. doi: 10.1038/s41388-024-03127-9Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Staying healthy during cancer treatment.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Wong JYY, Bassig BA, Loftfield E, Hu W, Freedman ND, Ji BT,et al.White blood cell count and risk of incident lung cancer in the UK Biobank.JNCI Cancer Spectr. 2019 Dec 12;4(2):pkz102. doi:10.1093/jncics/pkz102Kim KH, Sim NS, Chang JS, Kim YB.Tumor immune microenvironment in cancer patients with leukocytosis.Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2020 Jul;69(7):1265-1277. doi:10.1007/s00262-020-02545-4Tamang T, Baral S, Paing MP.Classification of White Blood Cells: A Comprehensive Study Using Transfer Learning Based on Convolutional Neural Networks.Diagnostics (Basel). 2022 Nov 22;12(12):2903. doi:10.3390/diagnostics12122903MedlinePlus.Low white blood cell count and cancer.National Library of Medicine.Low white blood cell count and cancer.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Blood and bone marrow cancer.Tavakkoli M, Wilkins C, Mones J, Mauro M.The Significance of Leukocytosis in Malignancies: A Novel Paradigm Between Leukocytosis, G-CSF, Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells and Prognosis.Blood2018; 132 (Supplement 1): 4944. doi:10.1182/blood-2018-99-117484Pryds K, Rasmussen LE, Andersen NH.Fatal right-sided heart failure due to leukostasis in a patient with leukemic transformation of myelodysplastic syndrome.Clin Case Rep. 2018;7(1):115-119. doi:10.1002/ccr3.1929Wheatley TT, Foster Castiglione H, Phong K, Yoon M.Hyperleukocytosis in acute myeloid leukemia: Considerations for inpatient diagnosis and management. Clin J Oncol Nurs. 2023;27(6):589-593. doi:10.1188/23.CJON.589-593Zhang D, Zhu Y, Jin Y, Kaweme NM, Dong Y.Leukapheresis and hyperleukocytosis, Past and future.Int J Gen Med. 2021;14:3457-3467. doi:10.2147/IJGM.S321787MedlinePlus.White blood count (WBC).American Cancer Society.Neutropenia (Low White Blood Cell Counts).Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.Understanding blood counts.American Cancer Society.Why people with cancer are more likely to get infections.Grasset EM, Deshpande A, Lee JW, Cho Y, Shin SM, Coyne EM,et al.Mapping the breast tumor microenvironment: proximity analysis reveals spatial relationships between macrophage subtypes and metastasis-initiating cancer cells.Oncogene. 2024 Aug 20. doi: 10.1038/s41388-024-03127-9Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Staying healthy during cancer treatment.
Wong JYY, Bassig BA, Loftfield E, Hu W, Freedman ND, Ji BT,et al.White blood cell count and risk of incident lung cancer in the UK Biobank.JNCI Cancer Spectr. 2019 Dec 12;4(2):pkz102. doi:10.1093/jncics/pkz102
Kim KH, Sim NS, Chang JS, Kim YB.Tumor immune microenvironment in cancer patients with leukocytosis.Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2020 Jul;69(7):1265-1277. doi:10.1007/s00262-020-02545-4
Tamang T, Baral S, Paing MP.Classification of White Blood Cells: A Comprehensive Study Using Transfer Learning Based on Convolutional Neural Networks.Diagnostics (Basel). 2022 Nov 22;12(12):2903. doi:10.3390/diagnostics12122903
MedlinePlus.Low white blood cell count and cancer.
National Library of Medicine.Low white blood cell count and cancer.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Blood and bone marrow cancer.
Tavakkoli M, Wilkins C, Mones J, Mauro M.The Significance of Leukocytosis in Malignancies: A Novel Paradigm Between Leukocytosis, G-CSF, Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells and Prognosis.Blood2018; 132 (Supplement 1): 4944. doi:10.1182/blood-2018-99-117484
Pryds K, Rasmussen LE, Andersen NH.Fatal right-sided heart failure due to leukostasis in a patient with leukemic transformation of myelodysplastic syndrome.Clin Case Rep. 2018;7(1):115-119. doi:10.1002/ccr3.1929
Wheatley TT, Foster Castiglione H, Phong K, Yoon M.Hyperleukocytosis in acute myeloid leukemia: Considerations for inpatient diagnosis and management. Clin J Oncol Nurs. 2023;27(6):589-593. doi:10.1188/23.CJON.589-593
Zhang D, Zhu Y, Jin Y, Kaweme NM, Dong Y.Leukapheresis and hyperleukocytosis, Past and future.Int J Gen Med. 2021;14:3457-3467. doi:10.2147/IJGM.S321787
MedlinePlus.White blood count (WBC).
American Cancer Society.Neutropenia (Low White Blood Cell Counts).
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.Understanding blood counts.
American Cancer Society.Why people with cancer are more likely to get infections.
Grasset EM, Deshpande A, Lee JW, Cho Y, Shin SM, Coyne EM,et al.Mapping the breast tumor microenvironment: proximity analysis reveals spatial relationships between macrophage subtypes and metastasis-initiating cancer cells.Oncogene. 2024 Aug 20. doi: 10.1038/s41388-024-03127-9
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Staying healthy during cancer treatment.
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