Question

The anaemia associated with leukaemia is?

• A. Iron deficiency
• B. Megaloblastic type
• C. Myelophthisic type
• D. All of the above

Hint:

Leukaemic cells crowd out the marrow, giving a leukoerythroblastic picture.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Leukaemia fills the bone marrow with malignant cells. This crowding out of normal marrow elements is a space-occupying process that destroys or disturbs the marrow architecture, which is the definition of myelophthisic anaemia.

Step 2: As normal haematopoiesis is displaced, immature red and white cell precursors are pushed prematurely into the blood. This release of nucleated red cells and immature myeloid cells is called leukoerythroblastosis, the peripheral blood signature of marrow infiltration.

Step 3: Causes of myelophthisic anaemia include metastatic cancer (the most common cause), granulomatous disease infiltrating the marrow, myeloproliferative disorders such as myeloid leukaemia, and myelofibrosis.

Step 4: Iron deficiency and megaloblastic anaemia arise from nutrient lack, not marrow replacement, so they are not the typical leukaemia-associated anaemia. The correct answer is the myelophthisic type.