2006-11-29 11:53:41 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Medicine
Adding to the above answer, make sure that a "morphology" study is done. This is where they take the cells and directly look at them. "Morphology" refers to the shape and size of different cells in your blood -- this is an important sign of cancer and other diseases of blood.
CBC was traditionally done by counting a sub-sample under a microscope, but is now often done by machines, so morphology may not be looked at unless your doctor specifies it.
2006-11-29 12:48:37 · answer #1 · answered by indigojerk 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A CBC consists of four parts: white blood cell count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and platelets. All of them can be indicative of cancer.
White blood cells are made by the body to fight infection. Cancers of blood products, such as leukemia or lymphoma, lead to significantly elevated white blood cell counts. Patients undergoing chemotherapy often have extremely low white blood cell counts.
Hemoglobin and hematocrit reflect levels of red blood cells and are essentially the same thing. Low levels can be seen with so-called anemia of chronic disease, which can be secondary to cancer. Low levels can also be seen with acute bleeding, which some cancers may cause.
Platelets help blood clot and are formed from cells in the bone marrow. Platelet levels may be low when certain kinds of cancer displace normal tissue in bone marrow.
2006-11-29 20:08:17 · answer #2 · answered by Doron S 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
high WBC count would indicate leukemia. For example, high lymphocyte counts are seen with lymphocytic leukemia
2006-11-29 20:04:48 · answer #3 · answered by justine d 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋