You crack me up, PhilB. Thanks for sharing that-- a great explanation and entertaining too.
"My Introduction" and "6 Month PCR Results"
#61
Posted 01 May 2016 - 08:25 PM
#62
Posted 01 May 2016 - 08:39 PM
#63
Posted 01 May 2016 - 08:45 PM
#64
Posted 02 May 2016 - 12:48 PM
PhilB - You have produced an instant classic! Priceless. Literate science. I laughed and laughed. Fabulous punchline!
Dx July 2009 on routine physical. WBC 94. Started Gleevec 400 mg Sept 2009. MMR at 2yrs. Side effects (malaise, depression/anxiety, fatigue, nausea, periorbital edema) never improved. Kidney issues developed because of Gleevec. Switched to Sprycel 70 mg in Aug 2011. Above side effects disappeared or improved. Have been MR3.5 - 4.5 ever since. Two untreated pleural effusions followed by one treated by stopping Sprycel Jan 2017. After 9 weeks, PCR showed loss of MMR; re-started Sprycel at 50 mg and in 3 months was back to <0.01% IS. Pleural effusion returned within a couple of months, same as before (moderate, left side only). Stopped Sprycel 50 mg for 12 weeks; pleural effusion resolved. At about a monthoff the drug, PCR was 0.03; at 11 weeks it was 2.06 - lost CCyR? Have returned to 50 mg Sprycel for 3 weeks, intending to reduce to 20 mg going forward.
#65
Posted 04 May 2016 - 12:38 PM
Okay, well some years ago I came up with an alternative way of thinking about CML testing for those who couldn't handle all the long words in Trey's explanation.
Imagine your farm is infested with rabbits. When first diagnosed there are so many of them that they are easy to spot. You can even do cytology tests ( the one where they tell you how many of 20 cells are leukaemic) - and they only work if you can spot 20 rabbits actually in the act of reproducing. As your bunny eradication programme takes effect it becomes harder catch enough bunnies in flagrante, so you move to plan B: the FISH test. This involves nuking the rabbits until they glow in the dark, then you can just look out the window and count them as they hop past. Eventually though, there are so few bunnies left that your chances of actually spotting one when you happen to look out the window become too low for this test to work too. At this point we have to get crafty and move onto the PCR test. Instead of trying to count actual bunnies, you go out into the field and count rabbit droppings instead. You then compare the amount of rabbit poo per square metre to the average from previous, internationally standardised rabbit poo experiments to estimate your rabbit population. This is why we talk about 'log reductions'.
Hahaha. This is pretty epic!
Diagnosed Age: 28
Diagnosed Date: Oct-20-2015
0-27 Months Rx: Sprycel 100mg
Current Rx: Sprycel 50mg
0 Month PCR = 87%
3 Month PCR = 1.2%
6 Month PCR = 0.64%
9 Month PCR = 0.26%
12 Month PCR = 0.21%
15 Month PCR = 0.15%
18 Month PCR = 0.11%
21 Month PCR = 0.051%
24 Month PCR = 0.047%
27 Month PCR = ?.???%
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