Can A Person With A Normal CBC Have Blood Cancer?

Posted on Thu, 3 Jan 2019

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 3 Jan 2019 Answered on

Last reviewed on

Question : Can a person with a normal CBC have blood cancer? Also can a CBC blood test see blood that is actually in the bone marrow?

Answered by Dr. Dr.Arnab (40 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
the answer is 'no' to both of your questions...

Detailed Answer:
Hello there,
Welcome to 'Ask A Doctor' service...
I've gone through your query in details...

Well, generally speaking, CBC is just a screening test to assess the blood cells and related disorders...However, CBC can show some dysfunction in a person having blood cancer (however, theoretically speaking, in some rare scenarios, it can be normal too but the chances are quite remote)...

No, CBC cannot see or replace the bone marrow contents, only the bone marrow test can see the bone marrow contents...

Hope this answers your query...

Wish you good health...

Take Care
Kind Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee

Follow up: Dr. Dr.Arnab (10 days later)

I had a complete blood count on 1/5/19 the white cell count was 6.1, on 1/10/19 I had xrays on both hips, things and spine. On 1/12/19 I had another CBC and the white cell count was down to 5.2, I do NOT often have xrays at all , so my question is - could the xrays have caused my white cell count to go from 6.1to 5.2 in one week?

Answered by Dr. Dr.Arnab (15 hours later)

Brief Answer:
no, it's not, they seemed to be fine...

Detailed Answer:
Welcome back,

Thanks for asking...

No, these are minor variation in the body which are considered physiological only...X-ray exposures are for quite a brisk moment and shouldn't be responsible for otherwise healthy individuals well being...

Moreover, the WBC count is well under the normal limit so I don't see any reasons be concerned about...

Let me know if I can assist you further...

Take Care
Kind Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee