AgranulocytosisSymptoms, Doctors, Treatments, Advances & More
Learn About Agranulocytosis
White blood cells fight infections from bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other germs. One important type of white blood cell is the granulocyte, which is made in the bone marrow and travels in the blood throughout the body. Granulocytes sense infections, gather at sites of infection, and destroy the germs.
When the body has too few granulocytes, the condition is called agranulocytosis. This makes it harder for the body to fight off germs. As a result, the person may get sick from infections.
Granulocytopenia; Granulopenia; Neutropenia
Agranulocytosis may be caused by:
- Autoimmune diseases
- Bone marrow diseases, such as myelodysplasia or large granular lymphocyte (LGL) leukemia
- Certain medicines used to treat diseases, including cancer
- Certain street drugs
- Poor nutrition
- Preparation for bone marrow transplant
- Benign familial neutropenia
- Genetic variants, especially in people of certain African and Caribbean ethnicities
Symptoms of this condition may include:
- Fever
- Chills
- Malaise
- General weakness
- Sore throat
- Mouth and throat ulcers
- Bone pain
- Pneumonia
- Shock
The treatment depends on the cause of the low white blood cell count. For example, if a medicine is the cause, stopping or changing to another medicine may help. In other cases, medicines to help the body make more white blood cells will be used. In certain ethnic groups with benign familial neutropenia, no treatment is needed.
Duke Cancer Center
When someone is faced with a diagnosis of lung cancer, they may be going through surgery, radiation treatment, chemotherapy or enrolling in a clinical trial. It’s a very complicated process to understand what’s involved and what may happen next. It’s also hard to hear all the answers if you’re by yourself. We encourage our patients to come with family members and friends and loved ones and particularly to identify one or two main go-to people in terms of care-giving and support. That way we can engage them in the whole process. Just as we have a team taking care of the patient, the patient has a team, too. At Duke, we have the opportunity to engage patients in the very latest treatment approaches, whether it’s a new surgical technique, the latest radiation approach, or some novel chemotherapy, immunology, or targeted therapy, several of which we’ve been developing. Duke provides patients with a real opportunity that they may not have elsewhere. Dr. Crawford is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Agranulocytosis. He is also highly rated in 26 other conditions, according to our data. His clinical expertise encompasses Febrile Neutropenia, Agranulocytosis, Lung Cancer, and Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). Dr. Crawford is board certified in American Board Of Internal Med, Hematology/Oncology , American Board Of Internal Med, Internal Medicine , and American Board Of Internal Med, Medical Oncology.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Gary Lyman is a Hematologist practicing medicine in Seattle, Washington. Dr. Lyman is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in the treatment of Agranulocytosis. He is also highly rated in 6 other conditions, according to our data. His clinical expertise encompasses Febrile Neutropenia, Agranulocytosis, Venous Thromboembolism (VTE), and Breast Cancer.
Matti Aapro practices practicing medicine in Genolier, Switzerland. Aapro is rated as an Elite expert by MediFind in the treatment of Agranulocytosis. They are also highly rated in 8 other conditions, according to our data. Their clinical expertise encompasses Febrile Neutropenia, Agranulocytosis, Breast Cancer, and HER2 Negative Breast Cancer.
Treating or removing the cause can result in a good outcome.
If you are having treatment or taking medicine that could cause agranulocytosis, your health care provider will use blood tests to monitor you.
Background: * WHIMS (Warts, Hypogammaglobulinemia, Infections, and Myelokathexis Syndrome) is caused by various genetic changes that increase the activity of the chemokine receptor, CXCR4. Excessive function of this receptor causes mature neutrophils (part of the white blood cells) to be retained within the bone marrow rather than being released to the blood and is one of the causes of severe inherited neutro...
Summary: Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a common oncologic emergency in patients with hematologic malignancies, associated with high morbidity and mortality. Early identification of patients at higher risk of complications such as sepsis or septic shock is critical to optimize antimicrobial management. This study aims to characterize the human and microbial plasma proteome using high-resolution mass spectrome...
Published Date: May 01, 2026
Published By: Warren Brenner, MD, Oncologist, Lynn Cancer Institute, Boca Raton, FL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
Berliner N. Leukocytosis and leukopenia. In: Goldman L, Cooney KA, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 27th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2024:chap 153.
Rice L, Zieske AW, Jung M. Neutrophilic leukocytosis, neutropenia, monocytosis, and monocytopenia. In: Hoffman R, Benz EJ, Silberstein LE, et al, eds. Hematology: Basic Principles and Practice. 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2023:chap 49.