When you first started imbruvica....did your leckocytes go up for the first few weeks few weeks.....and why did that happened ??? Diablo

[eldiablo]

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero]

This is well documented on the drug label, the lymph nodes become cleared of lymphocytes and they are flushed into the peripheral blood, so the blood absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) goes up... you doctor should know of this effect, but some appear not to.

dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailym...

~chris

[eldiablo in reply to Cllcanada]

Thanks a lot....I just need too read more on this....

[Phillysteve]

Diablo,

I have started imbruvica a few weeks ago and leukocytosis is expected for the first few months, this is due to the CLL cells being forced out of the lymph nodes and bone marrow into the blood stream where they will die. I have not seen a dramatic increase in my lab values so I hope this drug will work for me! (refractory CLL, 17p, CD 38 +>40%, imbruvica is my second line of treatment).

[eldiablo in reply to Phillysteve]

Thanks Phill..you have affirmed what others have told me....my best wishes.....Diablo

[ThreeWs]

Hi Diablo,

Any doctor who has not explained the rise in ALC (Absolute Lymphocyte Count) to their patient for which the Onc has prescribed Ibrutinib/Imbruvica is not doing his or her job. Imbruvica is the same drug as Ibrutinib and disrupts the bio-chemical bond between the cancer cells and how they are attracted and stick to the lymphnode tissue. Because of the huge concentration of cancer cells jammed into any of many nodes these cells move out into the blood stream where they will be less active and die faster than they are reproducing. You will experience a peak in the rise and a slow decline that may take months. Mine is taking three years to date to fully diminish.

If your Onc is that ignorant about Imbru and neglectful in informing you, you might have been mistakenly prescribed 4 instead of 3 capsules. Imbruvica is the name for the drug when prescribed for a cousin cancer to CLL called MCL. MCL patients get 4 capsules at a total of 560mg per day. If you are a CLL patient you need only 3 capsules at 420mg per day. Might save you money.

WWW

[eldiablo in reply to ThreeWs]

Hey ....you made my day with the other supporters....you have been on Imbruvica for 3 years......wow!!!! How do you feel???

[ThreeWs in reply to eldiablo]

I would not know i have cancer if I did not have blood tests and the cancer is getting hard to detect by blood testing at this time. All Bulky nodes are normal in size. My platelets are low and I don't heal as fast as I probably would if I did not have CLL and Take Ibru every day but at 70+ years and being very active I cannot complain.

You may get some side effects but most patients experience side effects as transient events.

Good luck and good choice of therapy.

WWW

[eldiablo in reply to ThreeWs]

Thanks for your insight....best wishes for continued improvement