Marrowforums is pleased to announce a new site feature for patients and caregivers: The
ANC Calculator.
The
ANC Calculator helps you compute your Absolute Neutrophil Count from the results of your "CBC with differential" blood test. CBC is your Complete Blood Count; a differential is an analysis of your white cells. Bone marrow failure disease patients may get a differential test regularly or only occasionally.
Your ANC is an estimate of the number of infection-fighting white cells (neutrophils) in your blood. There are good reasons to know your ANC:
- It's an indicator of your risk of infection.
- It can affect the classification of your disease.
- It can affect your treatment choices.
Why a Calculator is needed
Your ANC is computed from your white cell count and the percentages of different types of white cells in your lab report, using a formula. However, the formula differs from one treatment center to another because the labs they use to analyze your blood have different conventions for names, measurement units, and notation. Unlike other ANC Calculators you may find on the Internet, the
Marrowforums ANC Calculator takes these differences into account.
You can learn more about ANC on our
Absolute Neutrophil Count page. You can learn more about ANC calculation on our
Computing Your ANC page.
We suggest that you ask for copies of your blood counts and we invite you to use the
ANC Calculator to determine your ANC each time you have a differential.
We need your help
The
ANC Calculator is new and we'd like your feedback so we can evaluate and improve it. Please give us your comments by posting in this thread or
contacting us privately by email. We'd like to know how well the Calculator works for you, whether you find it useful, and any "glitches" you encounter.
Although the
ANC Calculator can help you learn more about your health, and identify questions to ask your doctor, please remember that tools like this must not be used to make your own diagnostic or treatment decisions or to replace medical consultations.