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Diagnosis of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia
The primary basis for the diagnosis of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is identifying the presence of the Ph chromosome which can be detected in about 90% of patients. If the Ph chromosome is found, these patients are referred to as "Ph positive". In about 10% of patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia, the Ph chromosome cannot be identified (Ph negative) but about 30% to 50% of these patients can still be diagnosed by identification of the abnormal BCR-ABL fusion gene.
