Safe to have Radiation while on Venclexta?

[Retiredlady]

unfortunately my husband has just found out that his prostate cancer has spread into his pelvic area near his bowel and ureter.

He has been on Venclexta for 18 months which is working wonderfully well keeping his cll and multiple myeloma at bay.

Radiation Oncologist wants him to start radiation asap. His blood specialist told him he can keep taking the Venclexta during radiation but my husband is very worried about doing so.

This latest set back is a real shock and was totally unexpected as he had a radical prostendectamy in 2016 with clear margins.

The thought of diorherra as a side effect and the imminent return of his multiple myeloma is very distressing for him.

He also has stage 3 CKD, coronary heart disease and severe peripheral neuropathy in his feet from all his previous treatments over the years.

Any advice would be helpful please.

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator]

I'm sorry to hear of your husband's concerning situation, but when you say "His blood specialist told him he can keep taking the Venclexta during radiation but my husband is very worried about doing so.", what are his specific concerns? Radiotherapy can be used to treat both Multiple Myeloma

webmd.com/cancer/multiple-m... and CLL/SLL. It is actually recommended for SLL in the USA NCCN CLL/SLL guidelines and is also used to shrink large spleens.

Please appreciate that we can only share experiences and not give medical advice. I suspect the lack of an earlier reply is due to the rare circumstances your husband is unfortunately facing, along with your post being unlocked. You may get further replies if you lock this post, as illustrated in the replies to this post healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

Neil

[thb4747]

Hi,

All I can tell you is that I had a couple of 5-day episodes of radiation for skin cancer in recent years. On both occasions I was asked to pause my Venetoclax dose. As I’m on a clinical trial of Venetoclax monotherapy I assume Abbvie was involved in this decision.

Best wishes to your husband.

[Teagle47]

I was not on Venclexta, but was on Pirtobrutinib (another targeted therapy) at the same time as my radiation treatment for my prostate cancer. My hematologist said there were no issues with me staying in the drug during treatment.

Terry