I had my BMB on June 14th. My PCR score was 12.66%. They caught it early. I started 400 mg per day on July 5th. I just got my results for the BCR-ABL score for a September 17th draw, which is 10.5 weeks from the start of treatment. In that time I had to pause for 2 weeks because of being neutropenic; therefore, I was on the Imatinib for basically 8.5 weeks. My score was .8102%, which seems like a major victory to me. I am 69. Do I just stay the course, or is it too early to ask for a reduction in dosage? It would be nice to tone down some of the side effects. Any wisdom would be appreciated. Thank you.
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Imatinib - Stay the Course or Reduce Dosage?
Hi Rick, definitely too early I would say. Based on what Prof Clark said at the conference 10 days ago, you should aim to get below 0.1% PCR for a sustained period (probably several years) before current data would support a dose reduction strategy. There is a replay of all the presentations on a link on the homepage of this site.
What are the side effects? I and others have experience in mitigating the imatinib side effects, which do reduce over time, and you are still at quite an early stage for that. Let us know on here what issues you have and we'll be happy to help if we can. At the conference I talked about my journey on imatinib, including neutropenia (which pre-existed my CML diagnosis). You might find listening to my bit of use - it is only around 12 minutes. I can't bear to listen to it myself, but I'd be pleased if it helps.
Hello...If I was you I would keep on taking your meds. to a great extent the side affects become far less with time , + it is giving you a longer life. I have been on glivec 12year+ . and just 3 mths. ago went down to 300mg a day. Get blood results 5 oct. 18 .
Just keep going and enjoy every day. Regards D ………..