Absolute neutrophil count

Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) is a measure of the number of neutrophil granulocytes (also known as polymorphonuclear cells, PMN's, polys, granulocytes, segmented neutrophils or segs) present in the blood. Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that fights against infection. A defficiency of neutrophils, known as neutropenia, may increase chances of infection.

The ANC is calculated from measurements of the total number of white blood cells (WBC) and the numbers of neutrophils and bands, which form a subset of the total number of white blood cells.

<math> ANC = (%neutrophils + %bands)\times WBC <math>

The unit of ANC is cells per microlitre of blood.