Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Tests and procedures used to diagnose chronic myelogenous leukemia include:

• Physical exam. Your health care provider examines you and checks vital signs such as pulse and blood pressure. Your provider also feels your lymph nodes, spleen and abdomen for swelling.
• Blood tests. A sample of blood is drawn using a needle. The sample is sent to a lab for a complete blood count, also called a CBC. A CBC checks the number of different types of cells in the blood. Chronic myelogenous leukemia often causes a very high number of white blood cells. Blood tests also can measure organ function to show if anything isn’t working properly.
• Bone marrow tests. Bone marrow biopsy and bone marrow aspiration are used to collect bone marrow samples for testing. Bone marrow has a solid and a liquid part. In a bone marrow biopsy, a needle is used to collect a small amount of the solid tissue. In a bone marrow aspiration, a needle is used to draw a sample of the fluid. The samples are typically taken from the hip bone. The samples go to a lab for testing.
• Tests to look for the Philadelphia chromosome. Specialized tests are used to analyze blood or bone marrow samples for the presence of the Philadelphia chromosome or the BCR-ABL gene. These tests may include fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis, also called FISH, and polymerase chain reaction test, also called PCR.

Phases of chronic myelogenous leukemia

The phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia refers to the aggressiveness of the disease. Your health care provider determines the phase by measuring the ratio of diseased cells to healthy cells in your blood or bone marrow. A higher ratio of diseased cells means chronic myelogenous leukemia is at a more advanced stage.

Phases of chronic myelogenous leukemia include:

• Chronic. The chronic phase is the earliest phase and generally has the best response to treatment.
• Accelerated. The accelerated phase is a transitional phase when the disease becomes more aggressive.
• Blast. The blast phase is a severe, aggressive phase that becomes life-threatening.