Last Updated on February 25, 2022 by Neelam Singh
Not exactly. In most cases, a blood cancer survivor cannot donate blood. Cancer cells profusely multiply to spread throughout the body. Moreover, cancer cells can also mask themselves behind the normal cells to prevent the immune system from attacking them. These reasons can cause cancer to recur because there is a good chance that some cancer cells have not matured or are in the resting phase during the treatment. These cancer cells may become active after the treatment to multiply and spread throughout the body.
In case of blood cancer, it is possible that cancer cells may remain within the body after the last treatment to begin multiplying after a few months. Usually, doctors do not allow a cancer survivor to donate blood. However, if people interested in blood donation had basal skin cancer or cervical cancer that do not need further follow ups, they may donate blood. Still, such people need confirmation from a doctor before signing up for blood donation.
People who have blood cancer cannot donate blood because they have scarce nutrients in their blood that may not maintain the normal oxygen levels within the cells of other people with blood cancer. Blood from healthy patients is the utmost choice for cancer patients.
Moreover, a study has shown that blood donors with ‘perfect’ health status are less likely to stop donating blood after some time and tend to ‘donate blood more often than donors with perceived poorer health status’. This means healthy donors are always preferred and the selection of blood donors mostly depends upon the health effects of donation.
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