Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) symptoms and diagnosis
Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) tests for diagnosis
You’ll have a set of tests to confirm whether you have CML. If you’re diagnosed with CML, you’ll have some more tests to help your healthcare team decide which is the best treatment for you.
At any time, you can ask your healthcare team to tell you why you’re having a certain test, what the results mean and – if you would like – for a copy of the test results.
The tests to diagnose CML include:
- full blood count
- bone marrow sample
- cytogenetic tests.
In 95% of people with CML, the Philadelphia chromosome can be detected with a cytogenetic test. This would confirm a diagnosis of CML. If you’re one of the 5% of people for whom this test can’t pick up the Philadelphia chromosome, there are other tests that can look for the BCR-ABL1 fusion gene. These are called a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and a fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) test. Both tests are done using a blood sample.
Read more about tests for blood cancer.
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