white blood cells

[TheTopBanana]

Hello,

my father’s white blood cells have gotten very low. What does this mean? His doctor only said that it was ”something to keep an eye on”.

[LearnAll]

Low WBC count is usually a good sign...But if WBC count is too low,..it can be because of treatment such as Chemo or Radiation. It is called febrile neutropenia.Without you giving an exact number of WBC, no body can guess what it might be. Just saying "very low" is not enough. Also, what is his Red cell and Platelet counts? All of them needs to be looked combinedly for any understanding of cause. Also, which type of WBC is how low...such as Neurophils, Lymphocytes, Eiosinophils or Monocytes...Each count has different meaning. Your question is so vague that no answer is possible with this little info.

[Justfor_ in reply to LearnAll]

Very well put LearnAll

[TheTopBanana in reply to LearnAll]

Of course!The measurements are Swedish but these are from the latest test:

Leukocyter 3,0x10(9)/L

Erytrocyter 3,9x10(9)/L

Albumin 36 g/L

Calcium 2,46 nmol/L

ASAT 0,44 mikrokat/L

ALAT 0,37 mikrokat/L

Alkaisk fosfatas(ALP)0,9 mikrokat/L

Hemoglobin (Hb) 127 g/L *134 - 170 g/L

EVF 0,38

MCV 97 fL

Trombocyter 204 x 10(9)/L

[LearnAll in reply to TheTopBanana]

Lets see. His Red cells and thrombocytes are within normal range...Only leukocytes are very low (3.0) Based on this, We can say that his bone marrow is functioning fine. His Hemoglobin being higher than 12 also indicates good bone marrow functioning.His Serum Albumin is 3.6, which is good.

His liver enzymes, AST and ALT are somewhat elevated but the degree of increase is not high and therefore, not worrysome.

MCV is 97..slightly high..means the size of red cells are little big bigger..which means the bone marrow is producing Red Cells faster. The size of 97 is only slightly up..which is not a problem.

I I am reading it right, his Alkaline Phosphatase seems like 90 U/L (American value)

then, it is fine. However, status of bone mets can be assessed better with Bone Specific Alkaline Phosphatase.

Coming to White Cells...Yes they are very low..probably used up in defense of body and possibly temporary thing. Might come back up in a few weeks.

If Neutrophils are low..its Good( upto 5.0). If Monocytes are low..not Good...If Lymphocytes are low..also not good. But minor degree of low counts do not signify any real trouble.

[TheTopBanana in reply to LearnAll]

Thank you very much!You said in the earlier answer that low white blood cells could be a good sign, could you elaborate?

[LearnAll in reply to TheTopBanana]

High neutrophil count indicates that there is high inflammation and it is commonly due to infection in the body. In Prostate cancer situation, high Neutrophils are mostly due to Bladder, kidney or prostate infection. Bone marrow produces more Neutrophils to fight infections and other attacks on body. These cells are like Police men..who are needed to control crowds or criminals. So if you see a lot of Police Men..it means something is not OK and thats why so many Police Men are needed.When Infection or other offending situation gets better, Neutrophils are not needed in big numbers and then the counts come back in normal range.

When prostate cancer is in good control, Neutrophils become less and Lymphocytes remain high. Thats why we calculate NLR (neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio) If NLR remains below 3.0, it means PCa is generally under control.

A good WBC count is between 5 and 9 1000/uL.

[j-o-h-n in reply to LearnAll]

You are an Ace in my deck............... (I'm a joker)

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Wednesday 01/13/2021 7:47 PM EST

[tom67inMA]

Edit: this was supposed to be a reply to a comment that has since been removed. Apparently I replied to the original post by accident, again.

Wow, I agree, you need to calm down a bit. Explaining the results of a blood test in lay terms is not practicing medicine. People come here all the time to learn more about their disease, their test results, and compare notes on what treatments other men have received.

It's best to assume that nobody on this site is a doctor unless they explicitly say so and provide credentials. However, there is a lot of accumulated knowledge in the members here who spend a lot of time researching prostate cancer and potential treatments. That can be a tremendous help to people who are overwhelmed by a recent diagnosis and don't have the luxury of spending hours with their doctor until all questions are answered.

[j-o-h-n in reply to tom67inMA]

Well I must admit it, I have many degrees....... BS MS PHD......

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Wednesday 01/13/2021 7:52 PM EST

[Tall_Allen]

Not good during the pandemic -- I hope he is staying inside and avoiding all contact with people.