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Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) Tests
- Routine testing of your blood and bone marrow is important to see how your current therapy is working against leukemia cells in your body over time to control your CML
- Regular testing is necessary even if you are achieving good results because chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a chronic disease that does not go away
- CML test results can show many things:
- The current phase of your disease
- If your chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is no longer responding to your medication
- The percentage of your Philadelphia-positive chromosomes
- How you may respond to treatment over time
- Each CML test has a different degree of sensitivity. Talk to your doctor about what CML tests you will be given, how often you will be tested, and what your test results mean
Picture the reduction in CML leukemia cells by using this triangle:
- The highest number of leukemia cells are where the triangle is widest (the beginning of your treatment)
- As your treatment starts working, the number of leukemia cells decreases, just like the width of the triangle decreases
- The lowest number of leukemia cells is at the smallest part of the triangle, representing the response you hope to achieve from your CML treatment