Bright Sun and Clouds

June 22, 2016 Bright Sun: After the 10th Darzalex infusion, with daily 2 mg Pomalyst and weekly dexamethasone (DEX), IgG is down once again, from 644 to 515 mg/dL, another drop of 20%.  M-spike is down too, by a similar ratio, from 0.6 to 0.5 g/dL.  Both myeloma markers are now at a level never seen in my 13 years since diagnosis, and apparently continuing down.  It probably means that the actual count of myeloma cells in my bones is declining by roughly the same ratio, a very hopeful thought. Clouds: HEMOGLOBIN: For the first time in years my hemoglobin is down a little, at 13.2 g/dL, where it is normally over 14 g/dL.  This is not a problem in itself yet, because 13.2 is a very livable number.  Indeed, many of my friends with myeloma would be tickled to have that much hemoglobin.  It's only a cloud because this is the third month in a row that hemoglobin has declined.   The reason for the decline is a matching decline in my red cell count, now 3.8 trillion/L, where the bottom of the reference range is 4.32 trillion/L.  According to my Doctor WG, Darzalex can bind to the CD38 protein on red blood cells and thereby reduce their numbers.  In fact, according to the Darzalex Prescribing Information, a study showed that 45% of all patients experienced some level of anemia.  Dr WG didn't seem too concerned, perhaps because I had run a marathon three days before without serious fatigue.  We'll keep watching it - hemoglo...
Source: Myeloma Hope - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: angina daratumumab Darzalex heartburn pomalidomide Pomalyst Source Type: blogs