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CML and immunity

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Hi everyone, thank you so much for all the repo see I got on my previous threads!

I have just finished my first month of Imatinib and my WBC are below the range and platelets are rapidly crashing. So my immune system is not in its best shape at the moment.

Me and my husband are working in a very small bubble and we are not interacting with a lot of people, however in February he is starting to go to office with a lot of people, thus subjected to viruses and he catches them very easily. So the question is - should I be concerned about my immunity, given we have a wave of COVID? Or even with the wbc below the range I should be able to get away with viruses? I do not have any other conditions, on top I am on plant based and keto omad and supplementing with vitamin C and looking to start vitamin D.

 

Thank you so much and would really appreciate your help!

Hi Katrina,

regarding your blood counts dropping below 'normal' levels: given you are only 1 month into TKI therapy you may expect this drop in blood counts. Over the coming months of therapy you will very likely see a normalisation of your counts as imatinib shuts down the signal that allows abnormal Ph+ cells to proliferate and your marrow can then produce the non-PH+ (normal) blood cells. You will need patience and regular monitoring to make sure your blood cells do not go under the generally agreed clinical acceptable minimum. 

Given your husband is now back in the office and is exposed to numerous virus etc. I would suggest that you do not just be 'thinking' about supplementing with high dose Vit D3 (see numerous threads on this subject) but rather that you start as soon as possible. Hopefully you can test for your current level of V D3 bit even if you cannot not it may be wise to start anyway. 

It's good that you at least supplement with V C... high doses do work to offset the worst effects of colds/flu etc. Sound like your husband might also be wise to follow supplementation. Remember magnesium/zinc and selenium are important too.

Sandy

Hi Sandy, thank you so much for your reply! 
Luckily, I have already started vitamin D and will encourage my husband to start both vitamin D and C as well. I am also at the moment considering IV vitamin C, what is your opinion on that?

Thank you, Sandy, take care!

Hi Kristina,

Re: high dose vitamin C.

It remains outside the mainstream accepted clinical 'arsenal' to use vitamin supplementation as a way of treating serious diseases/cancer, so I am not surprised your doctor cannot answer your questions about this.

Personally I use high dose vit C but via the normal digestive route rather than via IV. I have done this for many years - including during my stem cell transplant - as I can tolerate it very well. High dose C via IV is another way especially for those who experience digestive upset and cannot tolerate anything over 1 -10g. In the UK it is difficult to find clinicians within the mainstream (certainly in the NHS) who would consider offering IV services but they are available privately here in the UK as well as elsewhere.

For more information you might be interested in the following organisation - http://orthomolecular.org

I would add that CML was very hard to control before the revolutionary shift in treatment to TKI therapy (imatinib/Glivec) now over 20 years ago. It is not an exaggeration to call this a paradigm shift in how to successfully treat CML and save the lives of the vast majority of those diagnosed in chronic stage CML. There is still a minority population of CML patients diagnosed in later stage disease that do not respond optimally to TKI therapies, which is why there is still a way to go before we can call such therapy a cure.

However, I believe it does no harm (and probably a lot of good) to supplement a good whole food (non-processed food) diet with vitamins and minerals - especially vit C and D3 + others- but I also believe that in the case of CML this should always be as a 'complement' to TKI therapy.

I cannot stress enough just how much of a game changer TKI therapy was. As cancer patients, for those who have access to TKI therapies, we are very fortunate.

Sandy