how often to be checked when starting ibrutanib

[bachplayer13]

i've started ibrutanib and i have to return to my doc in 2 weeks. how often do you think i'll need to be rechecked? will it go to monthly? stay at every 2 weeks? i travel a distance to md anderson. any ideas? thanks!

[cajunjeff]

It varies so much from person to person, it’s hard to answer your question. Assuming you do not have a complicated situation I think quarterly visits in the first year of ibrutinib and semi annual after that would be in the range of normal. The first three months might be be once a month depending on your situation.

Ibrutinib works very fast and for first time users resistance is quite rare. Side effects are a bigger issue and for most of us, side effects are tolerable and manageable.

I take ibrutinib now and am in my second year of it. My visits are semi annual now. I am at md Anderson too.

[bachplayer13 in reply to cajunjeff]

may i ask what are your deletions and mutational markers etc? that will tell me alot about whether our situations might be similar?

[210savannah]

When I first went on Ibrutinib I started out with appointments at two weeks, then three weeks - then four.... now I’m going every 6 weeks. I’ve had great results with very few side effects. I have 17p depletion. My blood numbers are now in the normal range after 11 months on Ibruitnib.