Blood counts are routine during treatment for childhood cancers. Blood counts are ordered by the doctor to monitor a child's response to treatment and, in the leukemias, to make sure that there are no cancer cells in the peripheral blood. The following external web sites have excellent information on blood counts.

Blood Counts Explained

childhoodcancerguides.org/c-blood.html

Nancy Keene, noted author and cancer parent explains in her book, platelets, ANC, WBC, hemoglobin, and hematocrit. To assist with understanding, normal blood values are given.

What is Neutropenia?

www.realnurseed.com/t1000.htm

A nursing education page that is very straightforward and understandable. This page also discusses the clinical consequences and management of neutropenia.

What is an ANC (Absolute Neutrophil Count)?

Cure Hodgkins web site

Blood counts and explanation and calculation of ANC.

Blood Count Information for Kids with Cancer

www.coninfo.nursing.uiowa.edu/sites/pedspain/bcounts/index.htm

University of Iowa site that uses cartoon type characters to explain blood counts to children.

Blood Count Information on the Ped-OncResource Center

www.acor.org/ped-onc/treatment/bloodcounts.html

Mostly links, some information on blood counts.