Vidaza
 

I've finished four rounds of low intensity Vidaza (5 days once a month) and so far the only changes seem to be lowering all of my blood counts - platelets have dropped to low 20's from 60+, WBC have gone from normal to 2.something - and hemoglobin has been persistently low - as low as 5 and often around 7 - and I've required transfusions just about weekly - this is all very discouraging.

Has anyone had similar experience? Have blood counts rebounded after dropping so much? We were hoping the Vidaza would return my counts to near normal. I know it may take up to 6 cycles or so to tell if the Vidaza is working but so far I'm pretty disappointed.

I have a BMB scheduled for next week...

Thanks

Been there and done that. I did not show any changes until after the third go round on the shots.

Sorry, been there done that too. No response after 6 cycles except increased blasts. I've heard some people take up to 12 cycles.

There are a lot of studies out there about ideal dosing and time between cycles. I think the question that I have is what is your recovery cycle? I noticed that when I was on Vidaza that my recovery was late into the fourth week and into the new treatment cycle. Some people have seen 5 to 6 week cycles show better recovery due to the amount of marrow suppression, and others have seen that a lower dose for more days may be better.

Also as Chirley noted, some people don't see best responses until 9 or more cycles. Progression of your disease is the one indication that I have consistently seen as a reason to change over or stop.