Due for keyhole hernia repair next week. Have been on Acalabrutinib for past 6 months seems to be working ok. Have previous BR treatment 4 years ago.My hemo oncol said to go off treatment for 2 weeks. My question is does this affect my overall program.
Why is it necessary to cease treatment.
MALE. 78.
Joffre1
Hi Joffre,
You can be reassured that short breaks from taking BTKi (Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor) maintenance therapy (the 'brutinibs) don't impact long term survival, with 10+ years of data now supporting this.
You'll find that all the official BTKi drug websites have similar warnings to this one from the official Calquence site: cllsupport.calquence.com
"Important Safety Information About CALQUENCE® (acalabrutinib)
Before taking CALQUENCE, tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you:
- have had recent surgery or plan to have surgery. Your healthcare provider may stop CALQUENCE for any planned medical, surgical, or dental procedure." (My emphasis)
The reason for this statement, is that platelets also contain a kinase, which can also be inhibited in an off-target effect from BTKi therapy. This is why a common side effect of all BTKi therapies are various indications of bleeds - from small red dots under your skin (petechiae) up to significant bruising for some of us. Going off acalabrutinib for a while around your surgery reduces the risk of bleeding complications from your surgery 
All the best for your surgery,
Neil
Hi NeilThanks for your rapid response. The Acalabrutinib is sure working fine and well tolerated. My bloods are almost to normal range after 6 months. Although the kidney function has declined but not to serious.
Thanks for your response.
Joffre
HiI have had 5 x 10 days sessions off acalibrutinib over last 2 years. 3 because of 3 covid infections, 1 for SCC removal surgery on my face and 1 for dental work.
No effect on my monthly bloods at all.
Three Covid infections? Yikes. I am recovering from my first , including rebound effect. No fun.
I wasn't too bad , only hospitalised once with delta , the other 2 times paracetamol did the trick, fortunately I have totally recovered, all the best
I am so accident prone and currently nursing a broken bone in my hand. It was thought last weekend that I may need surgery. I asked about stopping Acalabrutinib but was told not to.I was advised not to take Apixaban for 48 hours prior to the op. I didn't need surgery so resumed taking it the same evening.
I was off Acalabrutinib for 3 weeks for the IMPROVE trial to see of I could produce antibodies (I did!) . No effect on my bloods during that time. Planning to come off again for 3 weeks in autumn for flu/covid jabs
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