Guest guest Posted May 2, 2007 Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 Hi Iris, Gleevec is known to cause liver toxicity in a very small percentage of patients. This is why it's so important for us to monitor our liver enzymes regularly. You don't mention how high your sister's enzymes are but according to Novartis, they have to be 5 times the upper limit of normal before Gleevec has to be stopped. That's pretty high but it does happen to some people. There's a number of ways to deal with liver toxicity. In many cases, the enzymes aren't high enough to stop Gleevec so it's just a " watch and see " scenario. In other cases, Gleevec has to be stopped for a short period to allow the liver to detoxify, then Gleevec can be restarted (although sometimes at a lower dose). In extreme cases, liver toxicity can be managed with Prednisone (a steroid). While most of the people who had liver toxicity were able to resume Gleevec without problems, there were a few people who had to change to Sprycel because of it. Don't worry about your sister's liver counts, there are many options out there for her if this becomes an ongoing issue. Take care, Tracey > > Hi, > > My sister's oncologist says that her liver levels of alkalinity have shot > up. He is currently conducting more tests. > > What can this mean? Has anyone else experienced this? What is the treatment? > > Thanks! > > Iris > > (Twin of Ilana, dx Dec 2006) > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 Hi Iris, If just her alkaline phosphate levels are up .. and the rest were normal it may be gall bladder problems. ALP is a red flag for any gall bladder related issues. I had the same thing happen to me a couple of years ago. I had apparently passed a couple of gallstones and it closed my bile duct which had to be surgically re-opened. I am sure her doctor will find out the problem. Hopefully, it may not be gleevec at all. Wayne -- In , " Iris Colyn " <iris.colyn@...> wrote: > > Hi, > > My sister's oncologist says that her liver levels of alkalinity have shot > up. He is currently conducting more tests. > > What can this mean? Has anyone else experienced this? What is the treatment? > > Thanks! > > Iris > > (Twin of Ilana, dx Dec 2006) > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 Thank you Wayne! I would never have thought in that direction. And yes, let's hope that her doctor will find out the root of the problem. Take care, Iris On 5/3/07, Wayne <wcox26@...> wrote: > > Hi Iris, > > If just her alkaline phosphate levels are up .. and the rest were > normal it may be gall bladder problems. ALP is a red flag for any > gall bladder related issues. I had the same thing happen to me a > couple of years ago. I had apparently passed a couple of gallstones > and it closed my bile duct which had to be surgically re-opened. I am > sure her doctor will find out the problem. Hopefully, it may not be > gleevec at all. > > Wayne > > -- In <%40>, " Iris Colyn " < > iris.colyn@...> wrote: > > > > Hi, > > > > My sister's oncologist says that her liver levels of alkalinity > have shot > > up. He is currently conducting more tests. > > > > What can this mean? Has anyone else experienced this? What is the > treatment? > > > > Thanks! > > > > Iris > > > > (Twin of Ilana, dx Dec 2006) > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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