What's the expected trend and variance in blasts percentage?

Posted by tomatoes @tomatoes, 1 day ago

I have Myelofibrosis. I am interested in any experience others have had with the trend in blasts percentage and in particular the variation in this number.

For the last year I have had an increasing trend in the blast percentage in my blood tests (blast count/leukocytes count). I am currently at 7% but was, six weeks ago, at 17%. The change between blood tests has been as large as +13% or -10% (absolute change in percentage). This seems like a huge variance to me.

My blood tests are, on average every 15 days. The longest time between tests was 38 days.

While I am expecting the percentage to increase over time and also that there will be some variation due to measurement, the large jumps (up and down) are surprising. The tests are done at two different hospitals but the difference between the two labs doesn’t seem to explain the variation.

Is this variation to be expected and normal?

At a recent appointment at the national cancer centre an intern mentioned that “the automated count was 4% but they were still waiting for the manual count”. The final (manual count) was 14%. This was the first I’d heard that there may be two methodologies for measuring blasts and the difference between automated and manual seemed large to me.

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge that would explain the results I am getting?

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Lori, Volunteer Mentor | @loribmt | 15 hours ago

Hi @tomatoes. Those are some larger swings between blast readings. From my own experience with AML, I am aware of automated and manual counts but don’t remember seeing a large discrepancy between them. If I recall correctly, a manual review is recommended if automated count detects blasts above 4%.

I’m going to tag @roywalton, who may be able to offer you some assistance in answering your question.

Are you currently receiving any treatment for your MF?

tomatoes | @tomatoes | 12 hours ago

In reply to @loribmt "Hi @tomatoes. Those are some larger swings between blast readings. From my own experience with AML,..." + (show)

Thanks for your reply @loribmt. I am only taking Ruxolitinib. I declined a stem cell transplant about a year ago and tried chemo (Azacetadine) for a couple of months at the beginning of this year. I know that a bone marrow biopsy is more accurate but I've had three mostly unsuccessful attempts at this and so I decided to stop that route to determine the progression of the disease.

The more I learn about my disease, the more I understand that the doctors and researchers are working with a lot of uncertainty.

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