New Member
Posted 10 January 2012 - 04:52 PM
Hey all. I want to ask my doctor to perform a blood level test on me to see how much Gleevec I have in my system. Is it a common blood test that any hospital can order? Or is it a mail-away test?
Has anyone had the test and then lowered their Gleevec dosage?
Advanced Member
Posted 10 January 2012 - 05:43 PM
This is a very difficult test to get done. If you search through the history there have been conversations about it. There is only one or two labs that do the test and they only run it in large batches so they need a lot of samples from different patients to run it. This is because the test is very expensive to run, something like $10K if memory serves me. They break up that cost by running multiple samples in the batch. The real problem with the test is that Novartis was subsidizing the cost of the test but got their hand slapped by the FDA because there was no clinical proof that blood concentration levels meant anything to efficacy and they (the FDA) didn't want a drug company suggesting people should take higher or lower dosages based on the test. So when Novartis pulled the subsidy the test became hard to get. Insurance doesn't seem to want to pay it given the cost and lack of proof that it means anything. So I would be interested if you find a way to get one, but I would also be surprised. Discuss it with your doctor, these things change from day to day, but that was the scenario as I remember it some months back when I called the lab that did the tests.
New Member
Posted 10 January 2012 - 05:46 PM
Hi BPilgrim,
From what I understand the test is still available but it is a difficult test to get. I'm not sure if a doctor would order it if you just wanted it so you could decide whether to lower your dose or not.
Judy
0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users
