Log Help

Hi,

From my (poor!) maths, it looks like that increase is less than half a log, from a very low base. I guess that's the sort of 'noise' we often see between test results. They're not going to be totally constant between tests, of course.

If you're worried about the increase, I would say not to be - it's not a big increase, and 0.02% is a low number in itself. If you had 3 or 4 increases of this size in a row, then perhaps it would be something to look into. I am sure someone else will be along shortly to explain better, but that's how I understand it in any case.

David.

Hi Frank,

I agree that this result is more likely to be a 'blip' rather than a more important 'trend'. This is not a big increase as David has said and you should not be too concerned.

It might be that the sample given was not as 'good' as the previous one. This can happen at any point with PCR testing as it depends on several factors surrounding the sample to give a meaningful result: e.g. the time the sample took to reach the lab - cells begin to die and RNA begins to degrade quite quickly after a sample is taken to it is crucial to get it to the lab asap. Another factor is the number of normal gene transcripts present(usually ABL or BCR) .... these are the control that is used to calculate the ratio of the BCR/ABL fusion gene present in the sample. There needs to be at least 10,000 copies or transcripts of a normal control gene if the lab is to report a meaningful PCR result.

Hopefully, as is often the case, your next PCR result will confirm that this is just one of those 'blips' and you can relax about it all.

Best wishes,
Sandy