What can a low white blood count mean during chemotherapy ?

BM suppression: Chemotherapy kills rapidly growing cells. Bone Marrow where red blood cells and WBCs are made are also affected.So there is suppression of WBCs and it takes 2 weeks to recover and slowly increases back to normal level. There fore Oncologist checks CBC before each Chemotherapeutic session,

Low WBC: Chemotherapy of some types can cause a decrease in the white blood cells that are formed in the bone marrow. This is a concern because white blood cells are used by the body to fight off infection. If the WBC gets too low then the body is at risk for infections so sometimes chemo has to be stopped to let the white blood cells recover.

Safe level gone: The WBC count is a reflection of the hosts immunity to invading organisms like bacteria. When count drops below 3-4,000 the amount of chemo given has reached too high a level and drugs must be stopped to allow normalcy. Drugs like GSF may have to be given to restore count to a normal level.