Guest guest Posted December 5, 2008 Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 Hi - I'm so sorry to hear about your father's trials. I don't know anything about syndrome. But I do know that doxorubicin has been used for a long time to treat other types of cancer such as breast cancer -- not sure about its role in CLL. It's very powerful and side effects may include effects on the immune system. Since Rituxan does do a job on the immune system, and doxorubicin/vincristine do too, my question would be whether the combination has an effect on the immune system's ability to rebound, and what precautions need to be taken to ensure that it does. I'm sure more knowledgeable people will post about its use in CLL. So the good news is that doxorubicin is well-established therapy -- it's not experimental; the question is how your MDs will manage its potent effects in patients with CLL who have already compromised immunity. All best to you and your father, Marietta > > Hey all, > > my Dad recently started another round of combination chemos after a > really rough 3 month stay in the hospital with a blood infection. We > have reason to believe that he contracted syndrom during > his last reaction to Campath. I've read up on it and see that if > contracted again, could be fatal. He has recently started taking a > combo of Rituxan, Vincristine, and a newer one, doxorubicin. Has anyone > heard of this newer one and what the effects have been? I'm fearful for > my fathers immune levels and am still waiting for the 'right' treatment > that will rid him of this mess! > > Val > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 6, 2008 Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 Hi, Doxorubicin is an anthracycline. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthracycline It's a vital component of a protocol called CHOP-Rituxan used to treat a common aggressive lymphoma called Diffuse Large B-cell lymphoma, also used increasingly as first primary therapy for indolent lymphomas or transformed indolent lymphomas. It makes sense to me to start with the goal of treatment when trying to make a treatment decision (or understand your doctor's recommendation) ... Is it to induce a durable remission? Or to manage the disease with minimal toxicity when needed? Or to relieve symptoms (palliative)? Then you can focus on protocols that fit with those basic goals. I think the most reasonable goal of therapy is not always based on patient choice ... sometimes it depends on the clinical behavior of the disease (they do not all behave the same way, even if they have the same name). For example, a CLL that's progressing rapidly might require higher-risk combination therapy with the goal of eradicating the aggressive component. Another key question is how likely is it that the outcome (the response to therapy and its duration) will offset the toxicities. So- called risk/benefit analysis. Virtually every treatment for CLL has toxicities, even the targeted types. It's common for treatment to impact on blood counts and immunity (noting that CLL is a blood cell cancer), but the counts will generally rebound after awhile ... However some treatment protocols and agents have longer-lasting impacts on immunity than others. Sometimes the impacts are reversible, sometimes not completely ... (in this regard I think the impact of fludarabine might be greater than for doxorubicin ... but that's just a layperson's impression. Anyhow, all this to say I think we must rely on our physicians, who have direct knowldege of our condition, treatment history, general health, secondary conditions,, etc. to help us sort through these difficult decisions. Most importantly, a second opinion from a CLL expert should be sought if at all possible. Try not only to ask what is recommended, but also the rationale. When multiple options exist, why this and not that. ~ Karl > > Hey all, > > my Dad recently started another round of combination chemos after a > really rough 3 month stay in the hospital with a blood infection. We > have reason to believe that he contracted syndrom during > his last reaction to Campath. I've read up on it and see that if > contracted again, could be fatal. He has recently started taking a > combo of Rituxan, Vincristine, and a newer one, doxorubicin. Has anyone > heard of this newer one and what the effects have been? I'm fearful for > my fathers immune levels and am still waiting for the 'right' treatment > that will rid him of this mess! > > Val > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.