Guest guest Posted May 4, 2005 Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 This is fabulous information. Thank you Zavie or Louis, or whoever first introduced the article. I have lots of thoughts about it which I'll be happy to share if I get the time. R > Message: 2 > Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 16:07:16 -0400 > From: " Zavie " <zmiller@...> > Subject: Stopping Gleevec > > Thank you for the post Louis > > THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, 05/03/2005 > By Amy Dockser Marcus > In a debate that has far-ranging implications for the most promising > new " smart drugs " in treating cancer, some doctors are now starting > to ask: Can patients ever stop taking them? > > This is a question that rarely came up with standard chemotherapy > treatments, which often were so toxic that they either killed the > cancer or were stopped because of the potential harm to the patients. > The newer " smart drugs, " such as Avastin, Gleevec and Tarceva, which > target only cancerous cells and leave normal ones unharmed, have > milder side effects. They often keep a tumor from growing but don't > completely eradicate it, raising the possibility that they may be > taken for years, possibly for the rest of someone's life, > transforming cancer into a chronic illness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Hi all, I was wondering why I wasn't getting any messages and then realized I had been bounced from yet again. It's so annoying. Grrr.... I just read the WSJ article. I can speak from personal experience about stopping Gleevec: I relapsed within a couple of months. In fact, I am the patient being referred to in the Leukemia Research article mentioned by the reporter. In my discussions at the time with my docs at OHSU and Mayo, they indicated that some people simply have different levels of aggressiveness in their disease and people with more aggressive disease are more likely to relapse when they stop. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone has determined what characteristics, if any, may indicate who would relapse and who wouldn't. Are any of you going to go for this trial? I had not heard about the compilation being done by Hochhaus et al. Does anyone know how to get added to that or get in touch with them about it? I'm really sorry that I have not stayed in touch with anyone lately (including not answering personal emails - my bad). I'm just very busy right now. Outside of sitting all day at work, I haven't been able to sit at the computer much at home because of ongoing back problems. I am having some spinal injections done starting Friday and although I don't look forward to the procedures, I am *so* looking forward to hopefully getting the pain under some control. Our family is distraught right now over the recurrence of cancer in a young friend. He will be undergoing a 12-18-hour (!) GI surgery next week for a recurrence of adenocarcinoid tumor originating in the appendix. If you have any good wishes or prayers to spare, please direct them toward this young man named . Best to you all, jennifer g. www.cmlsupport.com Stopping Gleevec > > Thank you for the post Louis > > THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, 05/03/2005 > By Amy Dockser Marcus > In a debate that has far-ranging implications for the most promising > new " smart drugs " in treating cancer, some doctors are now starting > to ask: Can patients ever stop taking them? > > This is a question that rarely came up with standard chemotherapy > treatments, which often were so toxic that they either killed the > cancer or were stopped because of the potential harm to the patients. > The newer " smart drugs, " such as Avastin, Gleevec and Tarceva, which > target only cancerous cells and leave normal ones unharmed, have > milder side effects. They often keep a tumor from growing but don't > completely eradicate it, raising the possibility that they may be > taken for years, possibly for the rest of someone's life, > transforming cancer into a chronic illness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Hi , Glad to see your post. This article is very interesting and I would like to consider the trial where they do the combo interferon and Gleevec. Interferon was rough, but I can handle it. I saw that there were requirements for this trial. If I read correctly it said newly diagnosed? Would I even be eligible? I am coming up on 5 years... My PCR has been undetectable since 60 days after taking Gleevec- that's been almost 4 years ago now. Sorry to hear about your family's young friend. I will say a special prayer right now.... I hope you get relief for the pain in your back soon. ez Message: 2 Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 19:12:47 -0500 From: " jennifer g " <jenniferg@...> Subject: RE: Re: Stopping Gleevec Hi all, I was wondering why I wasn't getting any messages and then realized I had been bounced from yet again. It's so annoying. Grrr.... I just read the WSJ article. I can speak from personal experience about stopping Gleevec: I relapsed within a couple of months. In fact, I am the patient being referred to in the Leukemia Research article mentioned by the reporter. In my discussions at the time with my docs at OHSU and Mayo, they indicated that some people simply have different levels of aggressiveness in their disease and people with more aggressive disease are more likely to relapse when they stop. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone has determined what characteristics, if any, may indicate who would relapse and who wouldn't. Are any of you going to go for this trial? I had not heard about the compilation being done by Hochhaus et al. Does anyone know how to get added to that or get in touch with them about it? I'm really sorry that I have not stayed in touch with anyone lately (including not answering personal emails - my bad). I'm just very busy right now. Outside of sitting all day at work, I haven't been able to sit at the computer much at home because of ongoing back problems. I am having some spinal injections done starting Friday and although I don't look forward to the procedures, I am *so* looking forward to hopefully getting the pain under some control. Our family is distraught right now over the recurrence of cancer in a young friend. He will be undergoing a 12-18-hour (!) GI surgery next week for a recurrence of adenocarcinoid tumor originating in the appendix. If you have any good wishes or prayers to spare, please direct them toward this young man named . Best to you all, jennifer g. www.cmlsupport.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Hi , Yes this is fabulous information and I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on all this when you get time. M [ ] Re: Stopping Gleevec This is fabulous information. Thank you Zavie or Louis, or whoever first introduced the article. I have lots of thoughts about it which I'll be happy to share if I get the time. R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 6, 2005 Report Share Posted July 6, 2005 Very intresting article. The only thing that I find may have skewed the results is the fact that the patients previously took Interferon. We know that Interferon works on the immune system whereas Gleevec does not, so even if it was a short time of Inf therapy, it may have been enough to make the difference. It makes me wonder if the ones who didn't relapse, were on Inf therapy for longer than the ones who did. It's too bad we don't have larger scale studies but I guess it's a start. Thanks for sharing, Tracey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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