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What is "undetectable"?

Hi All

I have seen several posts on the various CML FB sites written by CML patients who are now " undetectable" and going treatment free. I am wondering how low their hospital labs go with the numbers . My hospital seems to go down to 0.0000 and my latest result is still MR4 at 0.0055%. Do patients with "undetectable" results have a straight row of 5 or more zeros?

I ask as,having held MR4 since Oct 2016, I am now thinking of asking to stop treatment in Jan/Feb of next year but am wondering if I  being "undetectable" would give me a better chance.

Thanks

Chrissie

PCR values < 0.01% and "undetectable" are indistinguishable due to the precision of the testing equipment. In fact, qt-PCR testing precision falls off dramatically below 0.1%.

Any patient who tests <0.01% (I.S. scale) for two years is a candidate for a treatment cessation attempt.