No, they are quite different. Flow cytometry is better in the diagnostic phase for certain leukemias. It can be used as a tool to track response to treatment but the leukemia would have to express a combination of markers that normally would never exist in the blood.
The word phenotype in "immunophenotype" can be basically translated to mean "what does it look like". The cells in your blood exhibit a known pattern of markers on the surface of cells. Your T-cells should all be CD2+ and CD3+. The B-cells CD19+ and CD20+. I won't go on but the lab expects patterns. I worked in a Hospital Laboratory for many years and have done this testing. You get a sample and run it through a panel of tests. They are designed to look at the % of markers expressed on the cells and also to look for abnormal combinations. The assay can be sensitive to about 0.1% but the human population has a great deal of variability so that makes reaching conclusions about the results hard. For example, the normal range for T-cells in the blood is roughly 70-85%. CML is typically not tracked with flow cytometry. The hallmark of this disease is too many neutrophils and perhaps some blast cells in the blood. The neutrophils exhibit a normal pattern of markers so cytometry is no help there. The blasts can be measured by cytometry and might even co-express some markers associated with myeloid cells. But really a technician looking at a slide differential can get the same result and even tell you what stage of development the blast cells have reached which cytometry cannot. You can ask your Oncologist but I would guess that the reason for the cytometry testing has several purposes. One to add some confirmation to the other pathology tests like marrow biopsy and differential. Two to confirm that the marrow is producing all the white blood cells correctly and in normal proportions. And third to rule out the presence of other leukemias. Wait for the PCR testing to tell you about how the CML is doing. Keep up th ehigh spirits. On Feb 5, 8:22 am, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Hi all, > Is the FLOW CYTOMETRY TEST the same as the PCR? > It didn't seem the same as there was no percentages. > I thought the Dr ordered a PCR, but I remember he said something about a > flow test. > They took 4 vials of blood for this test and it was done at a local hospital. > Thanks, > Jeanie<3 > > **************Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music. > (http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp0... > 48) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ [CMLHope] A support group of http://cmlhope.com ------------------------------------------------- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CMLHope" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/CMLHope -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
