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Karen,
This is a very good question that I have not seen a lot of research on. Anything that I could come up with speaks specifically about prolonged immune suppression and the correlation between immune suppression and the development of secondary tumors.
The idea behind this is that when the immune system is not working properly - ie suppressed - tumor suppression genes are basically made blind and would not then function properly and identify tumor or cancer cells effectively, therefore allowing the cancer cells to grow.
Since I am not a pathologist, I would not necessarily make the leap that suppression is equivalent to low white blood counts in permitting tumors to grow.
To complicate matters, there is a correlation between people who have had pneumonia and bronchitis and developing MDS/AML. In some of these cases, the theory is that the immune system never fully shuts down, eventually causing chromosome damage that leads to MDS.
Not sure that this helped, but it is the two cents I can offer.
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MDS RCMD w/grade 2-3 fibrosis. Allo-MUD Feb 26, 2014. Relapsed August 2014. Free and clear of MDS since November 2014 after treatment with Vidaza and Rituxan. Experiencing autoimmune attack on CNS thought to be GVHD, some gut, skin and ocular cGVHD. Neuropathy over 80% of body.
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