Lastly, Can An Patient Who Has A Totally Normal CBC

Posted on Thu, 3 Jan 2019

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

Thu, 3 Jan 2019 Answered on

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Question : Lastly, can an patient who has a totally normal CBC result , have blood cancer cells in the bone marrow? Can the blood be normal if the bone marrow is abnormal? Can the bone marrow contain blood cancer if CBC bloodwork is normal ?

Follow up: Dr. Shailja Puri (0 minute later)

Lastly, can an patient who has a totally normal CBC result , have blood cancer cells in the bone marrow? Can the blood be normal if the bone marrow is abnormal? Can the bone marrow contain blood cancer if CBC bloodwork is normal ?

Answered by Dr. Shailja Puri (53 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Normal blood picture is not seen when there is cancer of the bone marrow

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query on 'Ask A Doctor' service.

It is extremely rare to have no cancer cells in blood if cancer is present in bone marrow.
The cells formed in bone marrow - whether normal or abnormal reach the blood.

So, if there is any kind of cancer in bone marrow, it can be picked up in blood in almost all cases.
To pick up cancer, peripheral blood examination is mandatory along with complete blood count (CBC).

Besides cancer, any abnormality of red blood cells or platelets in bone marrow will also be detected in CBC and peripheral blood smear examination.

If you have more queries, I will be glad to answer.

Thanks and take care
Dr Shailja Puri

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

Answered by Dr. Shailja Puri (0 minute later)

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

Follow up: Dr. Shailja Puri (10 days later)

Hi, I had a complete blood count on 1/5/19 the white cell count was 6.1 . On Thursday 1/10/19 I had a few xrays on my hip and spine. On 1/12/19 I had a cbc again this time the white cell count was only 5.2, I do not have xrays often at all so my question is can the xrays I had done on 1/10/19 have lowered my white cell count from 6.1 on 1/5/19 to only 5.2 on 1/12/19,

Follow up: Dr. Shailja Puri (0 minute later)

Answered by Dr. Shailja Puri (21 hours later)

Brief Answer:
White blood counts on two occasions are within range.

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome again,
White blood counts of 6.1 and 5.2 are within normal range.
Variation in white blood cell counts can be seen when test is done on different occasions.
X-ray of the hip or any other part is not known to cause decrease in white blood cell counts.

There is nothing to worry.

Thanks and take care
Dr Shailja Puri

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad