I'm not a doctor and certainly not an oncologist but I did work in a medical lab for years doing hematology. The white cell count (WBC or leucocytes if you will) are the first indicators of things going south. Then specigically what are your lymphocytes (your little immune response guys of the white cell group), doing ....the absolute value in a percentage. Now, what are your red blood cells doing....are you becoming anemic because your white cells are crowding out your red cells. Also, what are your platelets doing, what is your ESR doing, what do your lymphocytes, or for those with AML what do your neutrophils look like under a microscope. These are all things our doctors have to consider before making their decisions. To get a bit more complicated, what genetic markers your disease has shown from the bone marrow and FISH tests. So what I'm trying to say, it's a bit more than just one number. Of course symptoms have to be taken into consideration because no two bodies behave the same. For example, I am frustrated my oncologist doesn't acknowledge my bone pain because the medical books don't recognize this for CLL.....yet I have terrible bone pain!!
Wordy I know, but that's my 5 cents worth. Have a blessed day everyone.