Spleen treatments

[Broadbent]

Hi everybody, my husband has cll and six years ago underwent chemo. This worked very well and went into remission. Todayhis spleen is very enlarged and treatment is looming. Is there anything new on the horizon. Has anybody had treatment for enlarged spleen.

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero]

ibrutinib clears nodes and spleen remarkably well.

[Broadbent in reply to Cllcanada]

Thank you so much for your reply. Is this in tablet form or intravenous?

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero in reply to Broadbent]

They are rather large capsules...

[CLLCalifornia-USA]

I've been on Ibrutinib for only 6 days and nodes and spleen are getting back to normal. No side effects as of yet. Good luck. Sally

[ap64 in reply to CLLCalifornia-USA]

Good to hear that!

[Broadbent]

Thank you so much. Is this in tablet form or intravenous.

[CLLCalifornia-USA in reply to Broadbent]

I take three capsules daily. Taken at the same time every day. Make sure you drink plenty of water. I chose 7pm to take mine. I eat dinner rather early (5:30) so it seems to work for me. I then either sew or read, maybe yoga and bed. Good luck. Sally

[Broadbent in reply to CLLCalifornia-USA]

Thank you, and good luck with your treatment.

[Quarry]

Do you know why spleen enlarged? Is it due to the CLL.....if so, I can not help

Or has CLL caused an autoimmune complication where the spleen is doing things it normally shouldn't?

[Broadbent in reply to Quarry]

Had chemo 6 years ago with cll, went into remission. The same symptoms have returned I.e. Amongst other things enlarged spleen. It is uncomfortable and making it difficult to have a decent night. My specialist wants to wait two weeks and then start chemo if there is no change. I just was wondering what new treatments are out there.

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator in reply to Broadbent]

What treatments are available to you depends very much on where you live. If you share your country, then others can share how well they have gone on treatments available to you, which you should be able to find out from your specialist. You'll gain wider access to new treatments if you see a CLL specialist rather than a general oncologist or haematologist. There are nearly 1,000 posts in this community on treatments and trials, which you can find here: healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

then select Treatments & Trials and look for those that are available to you, or you can use the site search feature.

Given you've had 6 years remission from your first treatment, you may be able to get a reasonable remission by repeating your earlier treatment, but importantly, you'd need to have a FISH test done to determine whether your CLL hasn't developed a clone that won't fare well on chemo. Have you had this done? Thankfully there are far more treatments available now, (including non-chemo, particularly via clinical trials) than there were just 6 years ago.

Some of the new trials may suit you better by more rapidly shrinking your spleen than others. You should discuss the relative merits of your choices with your specialist.

Neil