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Increased Glivec dose to 600mg

My husband saw his consultant today and was told that they are increasing his dose of Glivec from 400mg to 600mg.

He has been on Glivec for about 18 months with two short breaks due to side effects. His consultant told him that although he has reached a log 3 reduction, his response to Glivec seems to have levelled out recently and the last blood test showed that his levels even had risen slightly. These are the reasons for the increased dosage.

My husband is concerned that this increased dose might exacerbate his low platelet count which has dropped from 1.24 at the end of June to 1.08 at the beginning of August. We are led to believe that an increased dose of Glivec could make this fall even further. Does anyone know at what level the platelet count becomes critical?

Has anyone been in a similar situation and what was your experience? Any feedback would be appreciated.

Many thanks in antipation of your reply.

Hi Suzanne,

I took the standard 400 mg. dose from March 2004 to October 2005 (19 months)similar to your husband. My consultant increased my dose to 600 mg when the PH Chromosome increased from 2.5% to 5.26% over 3 months. I have been on 600 mg ever since. I have been PH Negative for some time now, so the 600 mg did the trick & my BCR-ABL ABL is now 0.175. This is not as good as your husbands 3 log reduction, in fact not yet 2, and I am now being assessed at the Hammersmith to look at other options. Glivec keeps my White cell count low at 3.7 usually & Platelets low at about 120-140. The Platelet count did not get any worse with the increased dose, so hopefully your husband will continue to do very well. When I first went onto Glivec in December 2003, my counts crashed, & Platelet count went well down to only 16. Even then, nothing had to be done. I just came off for a month until everything rose again.

Best Wishes,

Phil.

Hi Suzanne
I had a similar thing happen while on Glivec (Gleevec) and also on AMN107. I have very low platelet counts as well as low red cells and need transfusions. I feel well and live a pretty normal life. My platelet has gone to zero many times
and no one seems that concerned. My doctor is reluctant to take you off as long as it is working.. Transfusions are easy but donors are hard to come by as I need single donor platelet.

hope your hubby feels well soon
SkipD
my diary http://easyskip.tripod.com
dx'ed 1978.

Hi Phil

Thanks very much for your response. It really helps to hear of other peoples experiences in similar circumstances.

We are both most encouraged that low Platelet counts do not seem to be a major issue and are pleased to hear that you are getting on well with the 600 mg Glivec regime.

Thanks again.

Sue

Hi Skip

Thanks for your reply. Sorry to hear that you need to have transfusions, but as long as they do the trick, thats what counts.

Your comments regarding low/zero Platelet counts are reassuring. What is your Platelet count at the moment?

Thanks for the link to your diary - I will have a look at it later this evening.

Thanks again.

Sue