Friday, April 10, 2009

Good News Again

Mayo Clinic Visit Wednesday, April 2, 2009, end of Cycle 14:

Results:

M-Spike is the same at 0.9 g/dL, IgG is up slightly from 923 to 1060 mg/dL, and Lambda light chains are also up a little from 2.64 to 3.04 mg/dL. I'm not concerned about IgG & light chains, because those numbers do seem to fluctuate a bit from one cycle to the next, as does the M-Spike for that matter. Taking the long view, these major markers have been level or down since June, 2008, and the trend is pretty much level. This is great, and Hooray for modern science!

CC-4047 is an experimental drug, an analog of Thalidomide and Revlimid but apparently more potent and with fewer side effects. In early March, a year ago, I started on the Mayo trial of CC-4047 with dexamethasone (DEX). By June, M-Spike dropped dramatically from 2.7 down to 1.1 g/dL. From there it dropped to 0.9, then up again to 1.1, and back down. Those variations may not have any meaning, and in fact they may be within the measurement error of the tests. Eventually the treatment will probably fail, as they tend to do, only time will tell. Meantime, there is life to be lived.

Related links:

      My Myeloma     A discussion of my myeloma, not very technical.
My Treatment History Not technical.
My Test Charts Graphic displays of several key test results over time.
My Test Result Table Best with a wide browser window. Very "technical."

Side effects of the two key drugs, CC-4047 and dexamethasone, are discussed in a previous post.

Here are a few specific test results:

Test Jan 08    Feb 05    Mar 04    Apr 02    Remarks
M-spike g/dL 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.9 Best tumor measure
IgG mg/dL 1350 1160 923 1060 Variation is normal
L FLC mg/dL 3.31 2.78 2.64 3.04 Free light chains
Calcium mg/dL 9.9 9.7 9.7 9.5 Below 10.2 is best
Creat mg/dL 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 Kidney, lower is better
HGB g/dL 15.3 14.9 13.7 14.7 Hemoglobin, normal
RBC M/uL 4.36 4.28 3.89 4.26 Red cell count, low
WBC K/uL 4.6 5.0 4.5 4.2 White cells, normal

Doctor:

I met again with the nurse-practitioner Dr KDS, but our discussions were short this time. She did give me a prescription for physical therapy designed to strenthen the bones that were known to be threatened by myeloma lesions a year ago. I have previously discussed this with a personal trainer and had one session with her, but will now make an appointment with a physical therapist. Perhaps I'll learn a set of exercises that I will actually do on a regular basis.


Click to enlarge, BACK to return here
Hormone- and antibiotic-free lamb, organic broccoli with shredded parmesan cheese, onion, Rose's lime jelly.

6 comments:

  1. Great news, Don! Hooray indeed! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. He Don,
    Congratulations for your numbers and your whole website!! I am writing from Cologne (Germany) and I have been following your bog since some months (maybe 7 or 8). My father was diagnosed with MM in 2006, and after 3 cycles PAD and one HD-Chemo he is CR. I am always looking for new clinical trials and new drugs, and cc-4047 seems to be one important one for near future.

    I wish you continued good health!!!

    Christer

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello Don
    Tomorrow is my blood test and next week the results. Hopefully a good result. With your information on your blog, I had a good preperation.

    regards

    Hans

    ReplyDelete
  4. I wish you the very best Hans.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's a great news for you.
    I hope you'll maintain good condition as it is now.
    My mother took Thalidomide for 2 cycle and changed to Velcade as Thalidomide doesn't effect on her.

    Actually, she diagnosed as MM in January with M-spike 7.48 and dropped to 4.39 with MPT one cycle.
    After MPT second cycle, M-spike got 5.31, got bad.
    So, oncologist changed the prescription to Velcade with Dexa.
    After Velcade two cycle, M-spike dropped to 1.78.
    So, she is now taking 3rd cycle with Velcade.
    The oncologist informed to my mother that she is considered a candidate for stem cell transplantation.
    At this point, I'm very concerned about her as stem cell transplantation would be very hard for her.
    I always pray for my mother that she will have good condition as you, Don.

    Hope you having best condition.

    From S.Korea,

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thalidomide didn't work for me either, but its close relative CC-4047 does. I certainly hope that Velcade keeps on working for your mother.

    ReplyDelete