The impact of white blood cell count and hemoglobin level on the response to radiotherapy in patients with colorectal cancer

Radiotherapy (RT) plays a much more important role in the treatment of colorectal cancer when it can be used to reduce the size of a tumor prior to the local excision of the cancer. In order to find other factors possibly related to radiosensitivity, we evaluated the relationships between circulating blood cell counts and RT effects. In 81 cases of rectal cancer, we examined white blood cell and platelet counts, as well as hemoglobin (Hb) levels, prior to RT, and also investigated their associations with the treatment response rate and with other clinicopathological factors. The patients with anemia had significantly worse RT responses, whereas patients with high white blood cell counts (≥7400/μL) showed better responses (p < 0.001). Cancer patients with low Hb levels do not respond as well to RT as nonanemic patients (p = 0.018). In colorectal cancer patients, white blood cell counts and Hb levels have a significant impact on the responsiveness to RT.