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Targets

Hi everbody;
It would be good to get some feedback on the following

Today I was given my results as follows
At DX BCR ABL 66.5%
At 3 months 10.9%
At 6 months 5.1 %

The level of Philadelphia Chromosome was calculated to be at 6.1% at 6 months

I was told that approx 50% do not meet the IS targets at 3 & 6 months. I know that these figures do not mean that I am not responding, but that I am responding more slowly than is ideal, but there is a definite downward trend.

My consultant told me that they would consider changing my meds (400mg Imatinib) if I dont hit the targets soon but I am relucatant because I tolerate imatinib well with few side effects. I try to keep as positive through this as I can and feel that I still have time to stay on imatinib and still get to where I need to be over the next 6 - 12 months.

I would appreciate it if anybody out there who has gone thriough something similar could give some feedback on this.

Hi Martin,

I like you am on imatinib, 2.5 years now. My results were slower than yours, 24% at 3 months and 15% at 6 months. We discussed a change but as I was / am very well and no side effects and stayed with it. I made CCyR at 12 months and MMR 0.1 @ 14 months ( now 0.07%) with a couple of stalls since, but the trend is steadily down.

A couple of years in and a little more knowledge, so long as they are falling and you are well to me personally this is so important, I know many will disagree ( newer TKI's do work quicker and deeper ) and I say the above ONLY with hindsight, a great thing. Do what feels right, you can always swap later if the falls stop. As someone said a couple of days ago on a different forum ; we all like to win the race, eg quickest, but what is important is finishing the race, not necessarily the speed / time it took.

Nigel