Understand laboratory values — without medical jargon.

What is the TBNK immune status?

The TBNK immune status describes important cell populations of the immune system in peripheral blood and shows how different immune-cell groups are distributed at the time of blood collection.

T cells (CD3+)

T cells are part of the acquired immune response. Subgroups coordinate immune reactions and may recognise altered cells.

B cells (CD19+)

B cells are important for antibody production.

NK cells (CD3−CD16/56+)

Natural killer cells are part of the innate immune response and can recognise abnormal or infected cells.

NKT cells

NKT cells share properties of T cells and natural killer cells and connect innate and acquired immune responses.

Monocytes (CD14+)

Monocytes belong to the innate immune system and can develop into macrophages and dendritic cells in tissues.

What does CTC / tumour-cell count mean?

CTC stands for “Circulating Tumour Cells”, meaning tumour cells circulating in the blood. The test looks for corresponding cell populations and can be used as supplementary information during follow-up.

Changes across several measurement points can be particularly informative. A single value should not be interpreted in isolation.

Why IL-6, ferritin and cortisol?

These laboratory parameters form an inflammation/stress profile and provide different complementary information.

IL-6

Interleukin-6 is an immune-system signalling molecule involved in inflammatory reactions. It is not tumour-specific.

Ferritin

Ferritin mainly reflects iron stores but can also change during inflammatory reactions.

Cortisol

Cortisol is an adrenal hormone involved in metabolism and stress responses.