Today my PCR had a new look it with a value that usually isn’t there.
It had two values
international scale%: 0.021
molecular response: 3.68
I have been diagnosed and treated for 4 years with countless pcr tests but never have seen. Molecular response value ? What does it mean.
If you hover over the "molecular response" text you will read:
Molecular Response
Levels of response to therapy shown by q-PCR testing. MR3 to MR5 are equivalent to reductions in levels of Bcr-Abl1 from 0.1% (MR3) down to as low as 0.001% (MR5).
All this means is that you have had a 3.68 log reduction from a theoretical 100% PCR at diagnosis to where you are now.
Log (base 10) reduction = Log (100%) - Log (qPCR value)
or
Log reduction = -log (100 / .021) = 3.68
It is a meaningless number to report especially since no one starts at 100% qPCR. PCR numbers are scaled to begin with against a standard (i.e. at diagnosis my qPCR = 155%).
All that matters is what is your current qPCR. At .021 you are doing quite well. Once you hit 0.01%, you are at the theoretical limit of the test itself. Any value below 0.01% is also meaningless and indistinguishable with "undetected". Of course reading "undetected" in a report is psychologically pleasing.
Survival of CML patients is greater than 95% when PCR is below 1%. You are more than 10 fold lower than that level.
