Possible change to SPRYCEL due to liver

[Guest guest]

Hi all:

My husband's liver results came back and it is 6 times the toxicity rate.

, I know you said they dont usually take people off Gleevec unless it

gets to 5 times, well I guess we are there. For now, he is remaining off of

Gleevec until next week, waiting for his liver counts to recover. His doctor

is throwing around the idea of lowering his doseage of Gleevec to 300mg and

see what happens. But, she has already began discussing Sprycel. We are

concerned about the lower doseage since we have heard more about developing

resistance to it at lower doseages.

We have heard nothing but great things about Sprycel, but cant believe we

are already at the point of possibly have to switch. He has only been on

Gleevec since last July (with a 1-month break in October due to severe

neutropenia). Everything was going so great with Gleevec, then this hit all

of the sudden.

Now we are slightly concerned---hope his liver recovers (it seems like it

will with time). Then--does he try the lower Gleevec doseage or does he

switch to Sprycel?

Maybe a Dr. Druker visit is in order?

Cervera

wife of Cervera, aged 34

Diagnosed 07/2006

400mg/Gleevec daily

>From: " Tracey " <traceyincanada@...>

>Reply-

>

>Subject: [ ] Re: Outcome of Gleevec and LIVER TESTING

>Date: Thu, 24 May 2007 12:20:41 -0000

>

>Hi ,

>

>It can sometimes take several weeks to detoxify a liver once it's

>been exposed to a toxic mixture so the three days in between 's

>drinking and the blood test isn't really much at all.

>

>I hope his counts start to drop now that he's taking a break from the

>Gleevec. Let us know how he's doing.

>

>Tracey

>

>

>

>

> >

> > Thanks, . He only drank and took Tylenol last Saturday and

>these tests

> > were run yesterday (Tues). So, that is 3 days in between where he

>had

> > nothing in his system. is going to call and get further

>clarification

> > on the liver counts exactly, so we can gauge how high they are,

>etc. All we

> > know is that his doctor was very concerned, it's not like the

>counts were

> > slightly off.

> >

> > Thanks again for your insights,

> >

> >

> >

> > >From: " Tracey " <traceyincanada@...>

> > >Reply-

> > >

> > >Subject: [ ] Re: Outcome of Gleevec and LIVER TESTING

> > >Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 22:10:21 -0000

> > >

> > >Hi ,

> > >

> > >You don't mention how high 's liver enzymes are but if they're

> > >more than 5 times higher than the upper limit of normal then it is

> > >standard protocol to stop the Gleevec and wait for the counts to

>come

> > >down. If it is the Gleevec that is causing the toxicity, he has to

> > >stop taking it before it permanently damages his liver so don't

>worry

> > >about him not taking the Gleevec for a few days. Right now, his

> > >liver is a more pressing issue than the CML is.

> > >

> > >Did mention to the doctor that he had been drinking alcohol

>and

> > >taking Tylenol before this happened? Liver enzymes can go up and

>go

> > >up VERY fast once its exposed to a toxic level of drugs (which the

> > >combination of Gleevec, alcohol and Tylenol could easily cause) so

> > >it's not at all surprising that this could happen " all of a sudden "

> > >when things were going seemingly well previously.

> > >

> > >For some people who couldn't get their liver counts under control

> > >while on Gleevec, Sprycel was an option that was successful so

>that's

> > >probably why the doctor mentioned it.

> > >

> > >Let us know when he gets his results back but if he lays off the

> > >alcohol and the Tylenol, I expect that things will settle down so

>try

> > >not to worry.

> > >

> > >Take care,

> > >Tracey

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> >

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