ALC question

[Lind29]

i have what seems to me a dumb question. I see lots of references to ALC in CLL posts. In reviewing my lab results I don’t see any results for ALC. can someone explain what that is? Thanks.

[SofiaDeo]

It's the Absolute Lymphocyte Count. If your doctor is asking for a "differential" when ordering a Complete Blood Count (CBC), you get all the subsets listed out. Since we have Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, it's the lymphocytes and neutrophils (indicators of infection risk) that are the most important part of the White Blood Count (WBC) for us. Because our WBC could overall stay the same, but lymphocytes rising while neutrophils get dangerously low. And sometimes our monocytes spike up, which may have nothing to do with our CLL but will make the WBC rise.

On the lab my US specialist uses, the acronym used is "LY #" for "lymphocyte number". This lab doesn't use the "ALC" acronym.

Your profile doesn't have a country; yours may use different acronyms.

[Lind29 in reply to SofiaDeo]

Thanks so much

[bennevisplace]

ALC means absolute lymphocyte count. "absolute" is important, because lab results often include percentage counts, like lymphocyte %, neutrophil % etc. The absolute values are much more useful, and in fact % values can be very misleading. ALC is also a more meaningful indicator for CLL progression than total white cell count, usually abbreviated to WBC.

ALC is expressed as the number of cells, in this case lymphocytes, per litre (or if you prefer, liter) of blood as sampled. The units differ between continents, so that in adults the threshold value for a CLL diagnosis is 5,000 (x 10^6 / L) in North America and 5 (x 10 ^9 / L) in Europe.

[Lind29 in reply to bennevisplace]

Thanks

[Adlucy]

I asked the same question too. No question is dumb!