Cytopenia

Cytopenia in the glossary for Waldenström's macroglobulinemia

Reduced number of mature blood cells.

Cytopenia is a reduction in the number of mature blood cells, and is common in cancer patients being treated with radiation and/or chemotherapy. Types of cytopenia include anemia (reduced erythrocyte (red blood cell) count), leukopenia (leukocyte (white blood cell) deficiency), neutropenia (a type of leukopenia, with a specific deficiency of neutrophils), thrombocytopenia (platelet deficiency) and pancytopenia (deficiency of erythrocytes, leukocytes and platelets - a life-threatening condition a characteristic of aplastic anemia). There are two general types of cytopenia: autoimmune (caused by autoimmune attack of blood cells) and refractory (caused by insufficient production of healthy blood cells by the bone marrow).¹

Glossary overview

References

1.Segen JC. McGraw-Hill concise dictionary of modern medicine. 2002.The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., New York. Available from; https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/. Accessed November 12th, 2021.

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