Guest guest Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 Yes he should have known what it meant. But a lot of doctors are very unaware of medical information with CML. I learned a lot on my own and actually enlightened my dr. on a lot of things. PCRU is PCR undetected. PCR is the blood test that shows if any cells are still running around in your blood. That is how I look at it... This test is usually a very good indication of how you are doing. I have had at least 15 bone marrow biopsies but now all I have is blood work and the PCR is included. I am sure you can check out some information on line about PCR and then show it to your Dr. So what kind of tests has he had so far??? Sharon T _____ From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of stephzour Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2008 8:35 AM Subject: [ ] What is PCRU? Hi I am still trying to get used the all the acronyms linked with CML. I am just learning how to read my boyfriends blood counts, and I always hear the people in this group say PCR and PCRU. I thought I knew what it meant, but then I asked my doctor and he said he was unsure what PCRU meant. Does the U stand for " undetectable " , also, is this a slang acronym used by the members in this group, or should the doctor had known what this meant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 Hi Steph, Yes, the U in PCRU stands for undetectable and I would have expected any doctor who treats CML to know that. Some doctors will say " PCR negative " but it means the same thing as undetectable and both terms are used interchangeably. A PCR is a test that looks for the BCR/ABL gene rearrangement (which causes the Philadelphia chromosome). For most of us, we'll never get to a point where it's undetectable at least not as long as the test is sensitive enough. Undetectable means that they didn't find any leukemic cells at all. The problem with PCR testing is that it's not standardized so one lab might test 1,000 cells, another lab 10,000 cells and another 100,000. A few labs (the big ones) will even go up to a million cells. The more cells you look at, the more chance you have of finding one with the cancerous gene. Consider a swimming pool filled with a trillion ping pong balls, the vast majority are white but a few thousand are blue. If you scoop out 1000 balls, you stand a good chance to get all white ones but if you randomly scoop out a million balls, your chances of finding a blue one increase. When someone gets a PCRU or negative PCR, the first question I ask is how sensitive is the lab? If it's anything less than 1 in a million, I would take the results with a grain of salt. I personally think a negative PCR is a false sense of security. I'm happy seeing any results that show a 3 log reduction or greater. Tracey > > Hi I am still trying to get used the all the acronyms linked with CML. > I am just learning how to read my boyfriends blood counts, and I > always hear the people in this group say PCR and PCRU. I thought I > knew what it meant, but then I asked my doctor and he said he was > unsure what PCRU meant. Does the U stand for " undetectable " , also, is > this a slang acronym used by the members in this group, or should the > doctor had known what this meant? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 Tracey As usual a great explanation. I have a related question to the old " 3 log " baseline. When I was diagnosed they did not do a PCR. I had treatment for at least 4 months before I did a PCR. As well, due to insurance changes and my visits between local ONC and Dr Drucker I have had at least 4 labs looks at my blood. Are you aware of a PCR baseline #/result that is used when a person is first diagnosed but does not have a PCR run at that time. Thanks From: Tracey <traceyincanada@...> Subject: [ ] Re: What is PCRU? Date: Thursday, July 3, 2008, 11:48 AM Hi Steph, Yes, the U in PCRU stands for undetectable and I would have expected any doctor who treats CML to know that. Some doctors will say " PCR negative " but it means the same thing as undetectable and both terms are used interchangeably. A PCR is a test that looks for the BCR/ABL gene rearrangement (which causes the Philadelphia chromosome). For most of us, we'll never get to a point where it's undetectable at least not as long as the test is sensitive enough. Undetectable means that they didn't find any leukemic cells at all. The problem with PCR testing is that it's not standardized so one lab might test 1,000 cells, another lab 10,000 cells and another 100,000. A few labs (the big ones) will even go up to a million cells. The more cells you look at, the more chance you have of finding one with the cancerous gene. Consider a swimming pool filled with a trillion ping pong balls, the vast majority are white but a few thousand are blue. If you scoop out 1000 balls, you stand a good chance to get all white ones but if you randomly scoop out a million balls, your chances of finding a blue one increase. When someone gets a PCRU or negative PCR, the first question I ask is how sensitive is the lab? If it's anything less than 1 in a million, I would take the results with a grain of salt. I personally think a negative PCR is a false sense of security. I'm happy seeing any results that show a 3 log reduction or greater. Tracey > > Hi I am still trying to get used the all the acronyms linked with CML. > I am just learning how to read my boyfriends blood counts, and I > always hear the people in this group say PCR and PCRU. I thought I > knew what it meant, but then I asked my doctor and he said he was > unsure what PCRU meant. Does the U stand for " undetectable " , also, is > this a slang acronym used by the members in this group, or should the > doctor had known what this meant? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 Hi Most of us in fact, didn't have PCR's done at diagnosis, at least those of us who have been at this for 5+ years. PCR testing is a fairly new thing (relatively speaking). Lucky for us though, when they measure the log reductions, they (usually) don't use our own values for the baseline. Each lab has a baseline that they've developed using an average of newly diagnosed blood samples and that's what they use for the baseline. Incidentally, as you might have guessed, each lab has a different value that they use for the baseline so you need to find out what the particular baseline is for that particular lab you're using. Some lab reports are a breeze to interpret as they give you the log reduction written in plain English....this patient has achieved a X.X log reduction. In these cases, you don't even need to know the baseline value. Other reports are a bit of a pain as they only give you a number and no indication as to what the baseline is so you really have no way of knowing how significant the number is. If this is your case I would call the lab and ask them what their baseline is. I hope that helps clarify things. Tracey > > > > Hi I am still trying to get used the all the acronyms linked with > CML. > > I am just learning how to read my boyfriends blood counts, and I > > always hear the people in this group say PCR and PCRU. I thought I > > knew what it meant, but then I asked my doctor and he said he was > > unsure what PCRU meant. Does the U stand for " undetectable " , also, > is > > this a slang acronym used by the members in this group, or should > the > > doctor had known what this meant? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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