"Partial" Remission?

[Eagle5327]

I finished BR treatment in August, following five years of W&W. I tolerated the treatment easily and it yielded great results: my blood counts are shockingly normal and a bone marrow biopsy six weeks after concluding treatment showed just 6% CLL involvement, down from 90+% beforehand.

However, a CT scan showed that I still have several mildly enlarged lymph nodes, in the 2-3 cm range. My CLL specialist declared me in partial remission as a consequence of the nodes. He was very encouraging and said not to worry about it.

Nonetheless, I can't help but feel I flunked a test in third grade. I wanted a complete remission, not something partial.

Does anyone know if there is any clinical significance to the "partial" label in terms of expected outcomes? In particular, does this indicate a shorter expected remission time? Even though I tolerated the last round of treatment well, it wasn't fun and I'm not looking forward to the next one.

Thanks.

Geoff

Washington, DC

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero]

Remissions in CLL vary , but generally the fewer malignant B cells you have the deeper the remission...

They are...

MRD negative ( minimal residual disease) 1 CLL cell in 10,000 leukocytes

Complete remission

Partial remission

Stable disease

How any individual will do in this groups varies from person to person...

I had a complete remission that lasted a month... so you see there are no

hard and fast rules...

More on remissions can be found in the CLL Guidelines

bloodjournal.org/content/bl...

~chris

[Justasheet1 in reply to Cllcanada]

Chris,

A CR for a month? That blows. I never knew that. Sorry. But I guess it's still long enough to have one hell of a celebration. 🎉

Jeff

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero in reply to Justasheet1]

Sure... Richter's is kind of a remission stopper... can happen any time... just occurred for me a month after 6 rounds of FR... felt great!

BANG!

[Justasheet1]

Didn't beat you. All that matters.

[Cammie]

Yes we have to remember that remission with cll does not mean cured!

The little devils that are those cll cells can reoccur at any time and this varies from person to person.

That's why it's important to live a healthy lifestyle and live life to the full whilst one can!

Good info again above.

Geoff

[fieldmeadow]

I know this is easy for me to say but I'll say it anyway - enjoy the 84%.

May take a very long time before you reach the 90% again.

Long may you be (relatively) well. Every blessing.