What are the Investigations done to Diagnose Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia

The physician will do a series of investigations starting from the simplest.

·         Full blood count – The results we are looking for are almost equal to those in acute leukaemia, which I have described in one of my previous posts. Simply there will be raised white cell count and low or normal platelet count.

·         Blood film – this is done to identify neutrophilia and myeloid precursors. This will also reveal occasional blasts, increased basophils and eosinophils.

·         Bone marrow aspirate – This is a very specific investigation that is capable of giving very accurate information about the disease. It may show increased cells and myeloid precursors in the bone marrow. The same specimen can be used to look for t(9;22) Philadelphia chromosomal abnormality, which is specific to chronic myeloid leukaemia.

·         FISH – FISH stands for fluorescien in situ hybridization. This technique can detect cytogenetic abnormalities of the cells. This is also used after the therapy to finds out the response to treatment.  

·         Leukocyte alkaline phosphatase – this is an enzyme which usually reduce in amount when some one has leukaemia.

References : Kumar P and Clark M, 2009. Clinical Medicine. 7th ed.