Lymphocytes & Absolute Lymphocytes

[reconjj]

Good Morning all , I just completed my 25 days of IMRT , Tomotherapy on 03/08/22 to the pelvic region . Also had 3 sessions of SBRT to 1 lymph node in the pelvic area , Oligometatastic 01/13. So I just received lab results yesterday from Univ. of Chicago .

AST-(Sgot) 26....... 8-37

ALT-(Sgpt) 24-----8-35

Alkaline Phosphate -56.........50-150

Albumin-4.6......3.5-............3.5-5.0

Bilirubin---.8-------0.1-1.0

Lymphocytes--6%-------16-47 % Very low

Absolute Lymphocytes -----.33------0.9-3.30 Very low

PSA --.04 down from .22

6 month Eligard in Dec. 21

Started Zytiga 02/01, 1 -250mg , 5mg prednisone on light breakfast .

So what is up with my lymphocytes ?

Up all night reading up on this . Lots of possibilities . Can this be caused solely by my recent radiation ? Thanks , JJ

[pjoshea13]

"Radiation kills lymphocytes selectively

"Radiation is often viewed as an immune-suppressive agent and most lymphocytes are indeed very radiation sensitive."

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

-Patrick

[reconjj in reply to pjoshea13]

Thank You , damn the A-bomb

[Tall_Allen]

Yes, that is an expected result of radiation to the pelvic lymph node area. Hopefully, it will slowly rebound.

[samuelachglue1952 in reply to Tall_Allen]

One burning question: TA, my dilemma after five days of Tomo radiation is painful and restrictive urination problems. Restricted weak flow (dribble), if any. Any suggestions? My RO said ( 2 days ago) maybe take a Terazosin boost from 10 mg to 12 mg.

[Tall_Allen in reply to samuelachglue1952]

I found that Rapaflo helped me a lot, but there are about a dozen different alpha blockers, and everyone is different. I also took NSAIDs. If the burning is literal, you can try pyridium (azo), which is available over the counter - but be careful - it stains everything.

[samuelachglue1952 in reply to Tall_Allen]

Thank you very much for your rapid response. The last five days have been very unpleasant.

[EdBar]

Yes I had some lymph nodes radiated back in 2014 and my lymphocytes are still below normal. My WBC and all other immune related blood work is normal. My MO says it’s likely never to recover but he is not concerned since granulocytes are fine.

Ed

[Purple-Bike in reply to EdBar]

May I ask, are your lymphocytes still low, or is there some recovered over the years?I was radiated late 2020 and at 0.6 (ref range 1.1 - 3.5) they have not recovered at all

My diet is perfect for the immune system and I can find no drug that raises lymphocytes (Neuprogen and Neulasta raise WBCs but mainly neutrophils; action on lymphocytes is uncertain).

[EdBar in reply to Purple-Bike]

Still low likely never to recover but granulocytes are good, that’s what my oncologist said he focuses on.

Ed

[TylexGP]

I saw the same thing with my RT still slowly recovering after 7 months.

[TJGuy]

Yup mine went down too. Worried me a lot at first but multiple doctors showed little interest. Had a lot of fatigue after whole Pelvic Radiation myself for a number of months. I was also on ADT adding to fatigue.

[treedown]

My lymphocytes took a hit about 1 month into radiation. They took me off Zytiga and they slowly started rebounding. Stayed below normal until my last 2 blood draws before ending my 2 year stint on ADT when they got back into normal range.

[samuelachglue1952]

Have you successfully dealt with urinary restrictions caused by the radiation? What do you recommend? We have a similar track.

[Lulu4545]

Hi to all,

I've got metastatic breast cancer. I hope you don't mind my joining this conversation.

I had radiation on L3 for an asymptomatic SUVmax 8 met in January 2023. In May 2023, SUVmax was down to 2.4 - complete metabolic response as radiologist wrote.

My lymphocytes were at 0,74 in September 2022 -met reactivated- and in Janurary 2023 1,14 before the radiation. Before September 2022, always above 1.5

In May 2023 down to 0.6 and today still very low at 0.61

Have you already experienced this? Is it due to the radiation or could it be linked to progression?

Thanks a lot

Love

Lucie

[treedown]

I had a major drop in Lympocytes during radiation. They eventually recovered but it took awhile.