Hi all....its been a very long time since I posted on here, I do get on and read posts to see how everyone is doing. I see lots of new members to the board, not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing.
Just have a quick question for the experts.....Greg saw Dr. Talpaz on Thursday. We discussed his last 2 PCR tests, two times ago it was .183 then in December it was .108. The test in December was not as accurate since his blood was drawn at home and overnighted to Michigan. Dr didn't seem too overly concerned about the change in level. I asked him why after being on Sprycel a year Greg isn't .000 something. He said they aren't as concerned about getting people to that low level anymore. He said they feel getting to .1 or even 1 is great enough results. So, if that's true aren't there a lot more who have reached the great result??? Is this accurate or is he trying to make us feel better about Greg's slow results??? Greg is on 70mg of Sprycel, he's on a lower dose because of drug intolerance to Gleevec and Tasigna. Dr Talpaz did say after he sees the results from Thursday's draw he might want to up the dosage to 100mg depending on what his level is.
One other thing he mentioned....He said if Greg stopped treatment right now, he would not see any harmful effects or see great disease progression for 1 year. What's everyone's thoughts about that? I fully trust Dr. Talpaz, as I think he is one of the top docs for CML but these new revelations are quite surprising and contradictory to what I've read and thought to be true.
Thanks for any and all input,
Audrey