http://www.medhelp.org/cancer/articles/New-Treatments-for-Chronic-Myelogenous-Leukemia/3
Another helpful site is Cancer.Net, from the American Society of Clinical Oncology: http://www.cancer.net (just enter CML into the search area).
Thank you for your question.
Hi.
Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) is a blood disorder caused by an acquired genetic defect in the pleripotent stem cell. It has several phases: indolent chronic or stable phase, aggressive or advanced phase, and accelerated and blastic phase. The transition between phases may take years (on the average, 4 to 6 years from the stable phase to aggressive phase).
My doctor told to come for additional test in two weeks. Now my WBC is 1.3 and absolute neutrophils count is 0.04. I was told to stay home on antibiotics. How long it may take for my counts to clime back to safe range. And of course, I'm off gleevec right now. Does it seem that dose of 400mlg is too high for me.
Are you currently on any medication like imatinib? The neutropenia can be due to your current medication. You can ask your hematologist for G-CSF injection if you have persistent neutropenia. Patients with CML are immunocompromised and can easily acquire infections. Neutropenia also puts a patient in an immunocompromised state.
For now, it is very important to prevent acquiring any infection. You should avoid crowded places and persons with ongoing infection.
Good luck.
A recent study confirmed the long-term superior efficacy and safety of anastrozole (Arimidex) over tamoxifen as initial adjuvant therapy for postmenopausal women with hormone-sensitive early breast cancer.
It is apparently considered likely that this would hold true for the other AIs, such as Aromasin, but if you wish, you could ask your doctor about the possibility of trying Arimidex in place of Aromasin.
Best wishes...
, locoregional or distant recurrence or contralateral breast cancer), postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer should consider an AI, either as primary adjuvant therapy for 5 years or sequentially after 2 to 3 years of tamoxifen to yield a total of 5 years of adjuvant endocrine therapy. Women who discontinue initial AI therapy before 5 years should consider using tamoxifen to bring the total duration of adjuvant therapy to 5 years.
My oncologist ran Adjuvant Online and printed this for me which shows 22% prognostic risk of 10 year relapse. With no additional therapy: 69.6 alive and without cancer in 10 years, 21.3 relapse and 9.1 die of other causes. With chemotherapy, it lists "Benefit = 6.1 without relapse". Just to clarify, does that mean that chemotherapy adds only 6.1 to the 69.6, increasing the amount alive and without cancer in 10 years to 75.7 and dropping the relapse to 15.2 from 21.3?
Hello,
Femara (letrozole tablets) is approved for the adjuvant (following surgery) treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive early stage breast cancer.
Femara is also approved for the extended adjuvant treatment of early stage breast cancer in postmenopausal women who are within three months of completion of five years of tamoxifen therapy.
In the adjuvant setting, commonly reported side effects are generally mild to moderate.
During that time, I think Herceptin is being used for metastatic Her2+ breast cancer and not for adjuvant treatment. Presently, it is now approved for the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer Her2+ (treatment right after surgery), based on the clinical trials that have proved its value. I suggest you continue with your surveillance and discuss this further with your oncologist.
Regards and God bless.
You cited the SWOG 8794 study as showing adjuvant radiation reducing the need for androgen ablation. Are you aware of any evidence that hormone therapy combined with adjuvant radiation therapy increases the survival rate or extends the time to biochemical failure, local recurrence or metatastic disease? Is there any preparation that you recommend prior to treatment that can minimize side effects?
Thank you.
I also would like to impose the question of prognosis for polycythemia vera. None of the doctors are willing to state or predict life expectancy, I only know what I've read on the internet. Thank you for answering our questions.
Your present stage (I believe it is stage I) along with the findings of Her2 + and ER -/PR+ may warrant you to receive adjuvant chemotherapy with possible herceptin. Tumors that are larger than 1cm in the National comprehensive cancer network, are considered to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. You may also need hormonal treatment (like tamoxifen) after you undergo chemotherapy.
Dear Kathy1124, Decisions regarding adjuvant treatment for breast cancer are based on several factors including size of tumor, lymph node status, as well as specific tumor characteristics you mention such as hormone receptor status and HER2 status. If adjuvant therapy is recommended in your situation there are several regimens that might be used. Treatments that would not be used are the hormone therapies that would be used to treat hormone receptive cancers.
Dear Doreen789, It is generally recommended that pregnancy be delayed 2 to 3 years after adjuvant treatment for breast cancer is completed. The delay is not because of the influence of the pregnancy on the cancer, but rather to delay childbearing until after the time of greatest risk of recurrence of the tumor.
hii, I m a research associate, I was working with Freund's Complete adjuvant that ccontains heat killed mycobacterium and is used for inducing arthritis in lab animals. while working with it, i got a small cut in my finger, which accidentally exposed to this adjuvant. after 1 day i am feeling tightedness in my jaw, aand pain while opening and closing it. please tell me am I a victim of Rheumatoid arthritis?
, locoregional or distant recurrence or contralateral breast cancer), postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer should consider an AI, either as primary adjuvant therapy for 5 years or sequentially after 2 to 3 years of tamoxifen to yield a total of 5 years of adjuvant endocrine therapy. Women who discontinue initial AI therapy before 5 years should consider using tamoxifen to bring the total duration of adjuvant therapy to 5 years.
All these women would benefit from adjuvant Trastuzumab, also known as Herceptin, (for one year, the standard in America) - along with adjuvant chemotherapy. This represents a shift in the way women with early-stage HER2 positive breast cancer should be assessed for risk of recurrence and considered for treatment, according to the study's author."
Best wishes...
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