Hi All,
I am a CML Patient from 8 years and on Gleevec 400 mg. My BCR-ABL reports have been ‘not detected’ from last 4-5 years.
However recent report shows BCR-ABL1/ABL (p210) ratio is 0.05, IS .03.
My doctor has asked me to repeat the test in 3 months. Is this a long period to redo the test? Also doctor mentioned if the count is increased further he may have to think of changing the tablet.
Any guidance further on this will be helpful.
Thanks
Annie
Hi Annie,
I would not wait. After being undetected for many years while on Gleevec and now showing a positive test, I would switch to low dose dasatinib (i.e. 20mg) now and not wait another 3 months. Changing drugs may very well wipe out the emerging clone which is resistant to Gleevec. I write low dose, because you are still very very deep in remission and low dose dasatinib is likely to be very effective without the side effects. In addition, you can always increase dose since you have time to evaluate response.
A randomized controlled trial, named the OPTIM study compared the outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed CML-chronic phase who received imatinib versus those who received a combination of dasatinib and imatinib. The study found that the combination therapy led to higher rates of MMR and deeper molecular responses compared to imatinib alone.
Let us know what you decide to do.
