Destruction of neutrophils is most closely linked with which of the following?

• A. Infection
• B. Bleeding
• C. Anemia
• D. Nausea

Answer: (A)

Neutrophils are the frontline white blood cells that defend against bacterial and fungal infections. When their numbers are destroyed or marrow production is suppressed, neutropenia results, leaving the body with a markedly reduced ability to fight infection. In chemotherapy and radiation therapy, this loss of neutrophils is a common and clinically important risk, so destruction of neutrophils is most closely linked to infection. Clinically, fever can be the first sign of an infection in someone with low neutrophils, making infection the central concern.

Bleeding relates to platelets, anemia to red blood cells, and nausea is a GI side effect of treatment—not a direct consequence of neutrophil loss.