Taking these steps can strengthen your immune system and better fight off germs that make you sick.
Verywell / Michela Buttignol
How Does Chemotherapy Work?
Chemotherapy treatments are drugs that kill or damage fast-growing cells.
Verywell / Michela Buttignol
But chemotherapy is nonspecific and is often administered to the entire body.
This means that noncancerous fast-growing body cells may also be damaged and killed.
Because they’re constantly generating new cells, bone marrow is a fast-growing tissue.
Lowered white blood cell counts are calledneutropenia.
Generally, this is called immunosuppressionthe chemotherapy has suppressed your immune system.
When the white blood cell count is low, your body has more difficulty fighting off infections.
As a result, you may get sick more often or get sicker than you usually would.
The test may be called acomplete blood cell count (CBC)or “hemogram.”
These tests take your blood and count the number of cells of different types.
White blood cells of all types are calledleukocytes.
You may also develop a fever, cough, intestinal distress, or other symptoms of an infection.
You should not start a supplement or vitamin without checking with your doctor or dietitian.
Some vitamins and minerals can interfere with your treatment and make chemotherapy less effective.
They may also prescribe drugs calledcolony-stimulating factors, white blood cell growthfactors, or myeloid growth factors.
Not every patient is a good candidate to get these drugs.
This can lead to low white blood cell counts and increase the risk for infection.
Your medical team will check your WBC count during chemotherapy.
If it is low, they may delay further treatment or prescribe medication to stimulate your bone marrow.
They may also prescribe antibiotics to prevent or treat infections.
A Word From Verywell
Chemotherapy can be very hard on the body.
But you don’t need to simply tolerate difficult side effects.
Side effects do not mean that the chemotherapy is working any better to kill cancer.
Speak with your palliative care team about holistic options for relieving the side effects of your chemotherapy.
If you have a low white blood cell count, take precautions to avoid getting infections.
White blood cell counts drop to their lowest about a week or two after finishing chemotherapy.
See if they have any suggestions for improving your counts and generally supporting your immune system through these treatments.
American Cancer Society.How chemotherapy drugs work.
American Cancer Society.Why are people with cancer more likely to get infections?
American Cancer Society.Neutropenia (low white blood cell counts).
Blood Cancer UK.Infection risk and neutropenia.
American Cancer Society.Benefits of good nutrition during cancer treatment.
2015;33(28):3199-3212. doi:10.1200/JCO.2015.62.3488
