FR vs. FCR

[Guest guest]

Helene and Other Fellow Travelers,

I chose FR this spring for the very reason Dr. Furman expresses and you mention. Before treatment, I felt well, with only slightly low rbc and hgb. Platelets were always okay, but the absolute lymph numbers were going up insanely. My specialist 2nd opinion thought I could perhaps wait a teeny bit longer, but with a doubling time of two months, I didn't want to take the chance on complete marrow failure. I decided on the less toxic of the two to start with, after considering chlorambucil and reading that it is toxic to the marrow also.

I went through the whole 6 rounds, but my neutrophils didn't recover enough after the 4th, requiring Neulasta, and the onc lowered my F dose for the last two treatments by 1/4th. I'm feeling fine now, though I was feeling fine before, too, with no clinical symptoms. My energy level is just slightly lower than before, but I think that's very gradually recovering. It's still very early after treatment, too soon to know anything about how long my white cells will stay low, but I'm thankful for however long they do.

Making the decision on which way to go with treatments is absolutely agonizing. Hopefully, the research will, before too long, point clearly to certain treatments for certain markers, symptoms, etc. In the meantime, Dr. Furman's distinction between aiming for long remission vs. extending the chronic-ness of our disease seems a good one to me, though it still doesn't make it an easy decision. It does feel better once one has made a decision, though, just to be doing something.

Karni

64 yrs; dx 2003, trisomy 12, CD38+/-6 rounds of F/R this year; 4% MRD

feeling well

[Guest guest]

Karni,

I think it is very interesting to see how many CLLers have symptoms,

while sometimes the need for treatment arises solely from changing

numbers.

I wonder if the " presentation " - with or w/o symptoms, with or w/o

adenopathy, make a difference in efficacy and length of remission.

Here's hoping yours is very long. Sounds like you are off to a good

start.

Helene