A patient with chronic kidney disease and undergoing chemotherapy develops severe anemia. Which mechanism explains the rapid drop in hemoglobin despite supplemental erythropoietin?

💡 Explanation

Chemotherapy agents often cause bone marrow aplasia, thus suppressing the production of all blood cells, including red blood cells. Because of this marrow suppression, the body cannot respond to erythropoietin, therefore anemia worsens despite supplementation, rather than the other options.

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