Does chemo attack immune system?
Marisa Weiss, M.D., president and founder: Chemotherapy circulates throughout the body. It affects the ‘factory’ that makes blood cells. Chemotherapy affects any cells that are growing or actively functioning. Your immune cells, your red blood cells, and your clotting cells (called platelets) are all sensitive to chemotherapy. That is why your blood count drops after you receive such treatment. The good news is that your body is capable of producing new blood cells every day, so your body is able to replenish these cells. But it takes time to do that.
