April Fools Test Results

Thursday, April 1, was the end of Cycle 27 of my trial of pomalidomide (previously CC-4047). The cancer has been declining or stable for more than two years now, and it was again Thursday. M-spike is still 1.0 g/dL, and IgG is down slightly, indicating that the M-spike value is probably correct. So that's good - wonderful even. Worth a celebration!

But some of the other test results are strange.

Liver Enzymes:

The reference range for AST is 8-48 U/L, mine was 85. The range for ALT is 7-55 U/L, mine was 112. They have been out-of-range high before, but not this high. Two possible explanations: (1) I had taken Biaxin, an antibiotic, to treat an infection in my hand, for the three days prior to the blood draw. Liver injury is a possible side effect of Biaxin; and (2) Muscle injury can also raise those enzymes, and I had run pretty hard on Tuesday, which always damages muscle a little bit. No doubt there are more possible explanations that I don't know about.

Dr KDS switched me to Keflex (cephalexin) to deal with the chance that Biaxin is the problem. And my primary care physician (PCP), the local Dr L, will recheck the liver enzymes on Monday.

Neutrophils:

Dexamethasone (DEX) actually helps support the neutrophil count. Since I've discontinued DEX, neutrophils have trended downward. Last month they were 1290 per uL, this month 940. That's a surprisingly big drop. The myeloma doctors don't want it to go below 1000, so if it stays down there we will have to reduce the dosage of pomalidomide, probably by stopping the treatment altogether for seven days out of each 28. For obvious reasons, we don't want to do that.

We know that other stuff is going on, though. I have a hand infection, I'm taking antibiotics, liver enzymes are high, so PCP Dr L will also recheck neutrophils on Monday. Then we'll worry about the pomalidomide dosage.

Free Light Chains:

Lambda light chains decreased from 2.10 to 1.82 mg/dL, which by itself sounds good. However, Kappa light chains plummeted from 1.06 to 0.27, and the ratio therefore went down from 0.50 to 0.15. Since Lambda and Kappa measurements tend to move together, the sharp decrease in the Kappa value calls the Lambda value into question. I can't make any sense of this. I'm hoping that the Kappa result is just wrong. Wacko. We'll see next month.

Red Blood Cells:

My red blood cell count has been below the bottom of the reference range every month but one since the start of the pomalidomide trial. This time it's just above the bottom, into the normal range, and hemoglobin is up too. Hurray! I have noticed that I can run a little faster too- maybe that's why.

Other Discussion with Dr KDS:

• Bone Density: Dr KDS had looked at last month's DEXA scan and told Dr D, a Mayo bone-health specialist, that my myeloma is under control but that I am a runner and a fracture would be devastating (like it wouldn't be for anyone!). My densities are:
  • Femur necks: T-score is -1.1, indicating mild osteopenia. Density for each is about 0.93 g/cm(sq). This is down about 3% from 2003, though Dr D didn't know about previous scans.
  • Lumbar spine: T-score is -1.2, indicating mild osteopenia. Density average for L1-L4 is 1.08 g/cm(sq). This is down about 4% since 2003, also unknown to Dr D.
  Dr D suggested Fosamax (alendronate) 70 mg per week, for not more than five years.
• I have a lot of faith in my PCP Dr L, and told Dr KDS that I would discuss this with him and get the prescription from him if he recommends it. Another topic for Monday.
• I took chlorophyllin this month, a new supplement, to help boost neutrophils. Since it didn't seem to do any good, and some other results are screwy, we agreed that the chlorophyllin would be stopped right away. Done.
• I am still taking naproxen sodium (Aleve) 220 mg once daily, to deal with headache and because there is a small chance that it will have some anti-myeloma effect, as Celebrex seems to have. Dr KDS had no problem with this.

Bisphosphonates for Myeloma:

Mayo Clinic and other medical institutions are backing away somewhat from the use of IV bisphosphonates, prescribing Aredia instead of Zometa and limiting the treatment to two years or so. And here you see a recommendation for an oral bisphosphonate (Dr D above) where an IV drug would have been prescribed just a year or two ago. Bisphosphonates remain in the bones for many years, and there is some evidence that overuse can lead to brittleness because the bones cannot renew themselves in the normal way.

Bone doctors estimate the probability of a broken bone with a formula called FRAX. When I put my numbers into the FRAX Calculator, I get a 6% risk of any fracture over the next ten years, and a 1% risk of a hip fracture. That's pretty low, not much above the risk for the general population. But FRAX is optimistic for a myelomiac, because myeloma tends to cause bones to weaken more rapidly than normal, especially in areas where myeloma lesions form. It will be an interesting discussion with my PCP Dr L.

Mayo Clinic Results Are On Line:

If you have ever been a Mayo Clinic patient, you can go HERE to log on and view results. I don't know how far back the results go, but mine are there from my initial treatment at Mayo in March, 2008. Not every result is there - a recent electrocardiogram is missing - but all of the normal (even abnormal) labs are there. You will have to get set up to log in and view your results, though, which involves mailing in a notarized form. Or you can sign up in person at your next appointment.

Some current test results:

Test		Jan 07		Feb 04		Mar 04		Apr 01		Remarks
M-spike g/dL		1.0		1.0		1.0		1.0		Best tumor measure
IgG mg/dL		1110		1180		1130		1070		Variation is normal
L FLC mg/dL		2.18		2.78		2.10		1.82		L Free light chains
Calcium mg/dL		9.6		9.8		10.1		9.8		Below 10.2 is best
Creat mg/dL		1.1		1.1		1.0		1.2		Kidney, normal
HGB g/dL		14.4		14.2		14.7		14.6		Hemoglobin, normal
RBC M/uL		4.05		4.00		4.17		4.39		Red cells, normal
WBC K/uL		3.5		3.8		3.4		3.3		White cells, low
ANC K/uL		1.38		1.22		1.29		0.94		Neutrophils, LOW!

Related links:

My Myeloma		A discussion of my myeloma, not very technical.
My Treatment History		Not technical.
My Test Charts		Graphic displays of several key test results over time.
My Test Result Table		Best with a wide browser window. Somewhat technical.
My Supplement Regimen		With links to where I buy them.