Re: Re: Cll cells detected after CR for 18 months

[Guest guest]

I'm afraid I don't have your full name. Also, your city, state and ZIP would help our records......

I was diagnosed in '97, W & W about 2-1/2 years. Then my reds went to hell, and all involved wanted to TX. So they chose FR (FCR was not yet fashionable then), late '99 to early 2000, four rounds. The first two were w/o R, the second two with R.

I went into a nice remission. Every once in a while, and I cannot even recollect when and why, I had a little R maintenance. Since my Achilles Heel appears to be red counts, it must have been due to slipping reds. I never had a high WBC.

The jury is out on R maintenance on a regular basis, but R monotherapy in a case like yours (and possibly mine, with my nodes growing) is a definite choice. My instinct tells me, however, that this would be a "bandaid" solution. These days I'm focused on Revlimid (lenalidomide), am hearing lots of good stuff about it. Frightfully expensive, and not yet officially approved for CLL.

Repeating FR is another possibility.

Dr. Furman is very much into trials, he has a number of them going on. You might keep that sort of thing in mind as well.

The one additional thing I might suggest is that, as your WBC rises, see what is happening to your lymphs. I believe you mentioned them in a previous e-mail. A nice ratio of neut(gran)% to lymph% is about three to one. You want you lymph% to be lower than your neut%.

Best,

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