Abstract

Anaemia is prevalent in nearly 30-90% cases of newly diagnosed malignancy (1). Prevalence of anaemia in cancer involves multiple pathways e.g., malnutrition, blood loss, reduced Erythropoietin production, release of several cytokines, iron sequestration by increased hepcidin or by bone marrow infiltration. Even non anaemic patients may develop anaemia during the treatment phase. It may lead to inadvertent delay in starting management for the cancer proper. Not only the delay in starting the treatment, indirectly it leads to tumour hypoxia which again causes inherent resistance to both radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Similar to anaemia prevalent in cancer patients, low albumin level is another concern as it is considered a part of nutritional assessment as well as an independent prognostic factor in several carcinomas. Prevalence of anaemia and hypoalbuminemia in carcinoma is often underreported especially in the backdrop of a cohort of socio economically backward patient population. We report the same as a part of retrospective audit to formulate policy for management of the future patients.

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