Wondering

[Blallen]

Does it take longer for imbruvica to work if you have 17p and 11q markers

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero]

Good question... I would guess it would be related to the B cell count.

~chris

[Jm954 Administrator]

I’m 11q and it worked very quickly for me.

[MrMidnight]

I have 17p and am taking Zanuibrutinib. It cleared my nodes quickly but it has taken two and half years to clear my blood. The haematologist said Ibrutinib usually clears the blood quickly with 17p and he has no idea why it has taken so long for me.

[Redlion]

I'm TP53 mutated and Ibrutinib worked very quickly for me in first line treatment. Nodes gone in 4 weeks and WBC rolled back to low diagnosis levels after 6 weeks. Everyone is different and for some it takes longer to see results. I do not think negative markers are a factor in the time taken to see results with Ibrutinib.

[AdrianUK]

Has there been a change in your nodes already? As I understand it the doctors are likely to be happy even with a big increase in your lymphocyte count initially on this drug (can be more than double it was before your started) as this typically happens through the nodes shrinking and pushing the lymphocytes into your blood. If you are concerned talk to you specialist but in general terms that’s the pattern people see.

[virdieblue in reply to AdrianUK]

A month on Ibrutinib my nodes were almost normal and my blood count was normal with no increase, as is common. Evidently one third of people respond this way - possibly ones with high risk markers, though I haven't seen a study proving this.

Virginia

[Oleboyredw-uk]

I’m 11q del. I experienced an initial jump in ALC of around 30-40% when taking Ibrutinib. My understanding from reading and discussions is that an initial increase can occur as Ibrutinib is good at flushing out nodes, then peripheral blood continues to improve.

As Chris has already said time is probably influenced by node sizes and peripheral blood B cell count.

best, rob

[uihwki]

I'm 11q and unmutated. Started Acalabrutinib 6 weeks ago (frontline treatment). My nodes were back to normal size in 1 week. The ALC jumped from 75 to 200 in that same time period. My blood work yesterday has my ALC down to 150. Other markers are slowly recovering (platelets and hemoglobin).

[Mkhait]

My wife has 17P - nodes cleared in a week or so after starting imbruvica , but it took almost a year to get WBC to normal.