Cll AND Multiple Myeloma

[Retiredlady]

Unfortunately my husband has both cll and multiple myeloma!

He was diagnosed with cll 25years ago(aged 50)and has had various treatments each time he relapsed.He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma 5 years ago,received treatment and thankfully went into remission 3 years ago.

CLL returned with a vengeance 18 months ago and he is now 18 months into 2years of treatment with venclexta ….cll has again been knocked on the head and luckily the venclexta is keeping the myeloma in check too.(although bloods show it still present and rising very slowly)

However dr thinks venclexta has only put brakes on mm and sadly expects it to return when treatment is finished.He told us that my husband would only be able to obtain venclexta once amd would not be able to have it indefinitely even if it’s working!

It is rare to have both cancers at the same time…….would be very interested to know if there are any other members unlucky enough to have both???

[lankisterguy Volunteer]

Hi Retiredlady,

My CLL specialist believes that Chemo treatments like FCR, BR, Chlorambucil etc. cause damage to the bone marrow that can lead to Multiple Myeloma, MDS, CML or AML over time.

That is why I chose to enter a clinical trial in 2012 for one of the first non Chemo treatments (idelalisib / Zydelig and ibrutinib / Imbruvica were both in trials at that time, none were approved so FCR Chemo was the primary approved treatment option)

If your husband has had one or more Chemo treatments, that may be the connection to his MM.

-

Len

[keepfit123]

I dont think my CLL has returned after 8 years remission after treatment with half dose Fludarabine and Cyclophosphamide +normal dose of Rituximab. I now have Multiple Myeloma and I have been treated with Bortezimib,Cyclophosphamide and Dexamethasone. I hope I can have non Chemo treatment when the time comes.