My family doctor switched me to Tricor today from Lipitor. Incidentally, I was diagnosed with myeloma because I was on Lipitor and had regular CBC's, etc. and my doctor noticed my white blood count was low. The trip to the hematologist rocked my world.
Not holding my breath that Tricor works, but who knows and I have to be on an anti-cholesterol any way.
Terry L.
Forums
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terryl1 - Name: Terry
- Who do you know with myeloma?: self
- When were you/they diagnosed?: August 10, 2011
- Age at diagnosis: 49
Re: Fenofibrate (Tricor) and multiple myeloma
I will find out in about 3 weeks if the switch from Lipitor to fenofibrate does anything for my elevated IgG level (which is the marker that the researchers said would likely be impacted by the switch).
I requested that my hematologist order up a cholesterol/lipid panel as part of my regular multiple myeloma testing this coming time around to see if this switch did anything. Note that I also mentioned this switch to one of the top multiple myeloma specialists I work with and he believes that the same or a similar mechanism in Lipitor may exist .... and that there are multiple myeloma investigations going on regarding Lipitor as well (which I haven't been able to find). I didn't really quiz the doctor further on this matter as we both considered it more of an interesting exercise as opposed to something substantial that could combat the disease.
Stay tuned.
I requested that my hematologist order up a cholesterol/lipid panel as part of my regular multiple myeloma testing this coming time around to see if this switch did anything. Note that I also mentioned this switch to one of the top multiple myeloma specialists I work with and he believes that the same or a similar mechanism in Lipitor may exist .... and that there are multiple myeloma investigations going on regarding Lipitor as well (which I haven't been able to find). I didn't really quiz the doctor further on this matter as we both considered it more of an interesting exercise as opposed to something substantial that could combat the disease.
Stay tuned.
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Multibilly - Name: Multibilly
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Smoldering, Nov, 2012
Re: Fenofibrate (Tricor) and multiple myeloma
I agree with your assessment, Multibilly, that it is an interesting exercise and I am really not expecting it to work. However, it will be very cool if it did. My disease is tracked by FLC's. Let you know in a month or so. Best. Terry L.
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terryl1 - Name: Terry
- Who do you know with myeloma?: self
- When were you/they diagnosed?: August 10, 2011
- Age at diagnosis: 49
Re: Fenofibrate (Tricor) and multiple myeloma
I've been on fenofibrate for 2 months. My GP wants to give it three months to see how it affects my cholesterol. I've had no ill effects and I remain in complete stringent response. Will let you know the results of my lipid panel.
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torimooney - Name: tori
- Who do you know with myeloma?: myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: apr 2012
- Age at diagnosis: 64
Re: Fenofibrate (Tricor) and multiple myeloma
This is very interesting. A couple of comments:
1) Many compounds demonstrate activity in laboratory models of multiple myeloma. We need easily used models that are more predictive of activity in patients. This would be a HUGE advance. The models are getting better, but not all preclinical work utilizes these models.
2) I will be very curious to know what happens to your M spikes / free light chains on Tricor. For those of you embarking on this experiment, please be sure to post your results!
3) Single agent activity in early clinical trials has generally been felt to be necessary for a drug to survive and receive FDA approval. However, the HDAC inhibitors and elotuzumab may challenge this paradigm. The results of phase 3 studies utilizing elotuzumab and panobinostat are eagerly anticipated.
Bottom line: there are a lot of cool thing as going on in myeloma research these days!
Pete V.
1) Many compounds demonstrate activity in laboratory models of multiple myeloma. We need easily used models that are more predictive of activity in patients. This would be a HUGE advance. The models are getting better, but not all preclinical work utilizes these models.
2) I will be very curious to know what happens to your M spikes / free light chains on Tricor. For those of you embarking on this experiment, please be sure to post your results!
3) Single agent activity in early clinical trials has generally been felt to be necessary for a drug to survive and receive FDA approval. However, the HDAC inhibitors and elotuzumab may challenge this paradigm. The results of phase 3 studies utilizing elotuzumab and panobinostat are eagerly anticipated.
Bottom line: there are a lot of cool thing as going on in myeloma research these days!
Pete V.
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Dr. Peter Voorhees - Name: Peter Voorhees, M.D.
Beacon Medical Advisor
Re: Fenofibrate (Tricor) and multiple myeloma
OK, so I've taken it for three months and there has been no significant changes to my cholesterol. My M spike remains at 0 and all other labs remain within acceptable limits. The good news is I lost 3-4 lbs since I began taking fenofibrate. My primary MD says weight loss is not typical from this drug.
I am to continue for 4 more months to see if my cholesterol decreases. The problem is my LDL. My triglycerides and HDLs are great. I just don't want to go back on statins because I developed a severe all over rash for two weeks after 3 months on statins.
I am to continue for 4 more months to see if my cholesterol decreases. The problem is my LDL. My triglycerides and HDLs are great. I just don't want to go back on statins because I developed a severe all over rash for two weeks after 3 months on statins.
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torimooney - Name: tori
- Who do you know with myeloma?: myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: apr 2012
- Age at diagnosis: 64
Re: Fenofibrate (Tricor) and multiple myeloma
Thanks for the update Tori,
When you started fenofibrate, all your multiple myeloma markers were already normal since you were in SCR from your drug-only treatment Were you still doing any chemo treatment over the past 3 months or were you completely done with that phase when you started the fenofibrate?
I'll be getting my data after being on fenofibrate for two months this Thursday and I will report in at that time. In my case, I started the fenofibrate experiment with an IgG of 3320 mg/dL and an M-Spike of 2.21 g/dL as an untreated smoldering myeloma patient. So, I'll be able to see if the fenofibrate was able to knock down an abnormally high immunoglobulin level.
When you started fenofibrate, all your multiple myeloma markers were already normal since you were in SCR from your drug-only treatment Were you still doing any chemo treatment over the past 3 months or were you completely done with that phase when you started the fenofibrate?
I'll be getting my data after being on fenofibrate for two months this Thursday and I will report in at that time. In my case, I started the fenofibrate experiment with an IgG of 3320 mg/dL and an M-Spike of 2.21 g/dL as an untreated smoldering myeloma patient. So, I'll be able to see if the fenofibrate was able to knock down an abnormally high immunoglobulin level.
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Multibilly - Name: Multibilly
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Smoldering, Nov, 2012
Re: Fenofibrate (Tricor) and multiple myeloma
I have continued on my maintenance protocol of dex, Velcade and Zometa while taking the fenofibrate. All multiple myeloma labs remain great and essentially unchanged. Wish I could be as successful in getting a good lipid panel read. I remain grateful for how my multiple myeloma is going.
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torimooney - Name: tori
- Who do you know with myeloma?: myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: apr 2012
- Age at diagnosis: 64
Re: Fenofibrate (Tricor) and multiple myeloma
I am IgG lambda smoldering myeloma.
I switched from 40mg Lipitor / day to 160mg fenofibrate / day 60 days ago.
1. The fenofibrate multiple myeloma study researcher said if I had a positive result, my involved immunoglobulin would drop.
2. After two months on fenofibrate, my IgG did indeed drop from 3320 to 2940 mg/dL. Not a huge drop, but nice.
3. In concert with the IgG drop, my M-spike dropped from 2.21 to 2.0 g/dL.
4. But my serum lambda FLC rose from 19.7 to 22.8 mg/dL … bummer. I wasn’t expecting this, and I’m not sure what to make of my IgG going down while my lambda FLC goes up?
Will know more after my next test … but ANY COMMENTS / GUESSES would be welcome in the meantime.
A few key points:
1. One data point doesn’t make a trend.
2. For those of you that speak stats, my latest IgG data point is still (but just barely) within one standard deviation of all the data samples I’ve been tracking since 11/2012. But as you can see from the attached graphs, my IgG tends to oscillate and this latest dip could also just be a normal oscillation. My lambda FLC was already on the rise and this latest result is outside of one standard deviation.
[Click on image to see it in its entirety, without the scrollbars.]
3. My HDL went from 35 to 36 mg/dL, which is a tiny improvement. But my LDL went from 91 to 140, which was a big, negative change … and this has me concerned. I’m discussing this LDL issue now with my GP. I may just add niacin and I've already added plant sterols to my diet to deal with this new LDL issue, given I want to continue with the fenofibrate experiment just a bit longer. We may just add Lipitor back in (but be careful when mixing statins and fibrates …these can have nasty side effects depending on which drugs you are mixing ... so make sure your GP really knows what he is doing).
4. Based on this one data point, I will continue with fenofibrate for another 2-3 months and I will hope that the IgG trend continues … and that my lambda free light chain will turn around.
5. When I get re-checked in about 3 months, I will figure out whether to continue my fenofibrate and what next to do about my cholesterol levels, depending on where all my lab results end up.
6. In summary, one can’t really draw any conclusions on whether the fenofibrate is impacting my multiple myeloma … at least not yet. And remember that everyone responds differently to different drugs.
I switched from 40mg Lipitor / day to 160mg fenofibrate / day 60 days ago.
1. The fenofibrate multiple myeloma study researcher said if I had a positive result, my involved immunoglobulin would drop.
2. After two months on fenofibrate, my IgG did indeed drop from 3320 to 2940 mg/dL. Not a huge drop, but nice.
3. In concert with the IgG drop, my M-spike dropped from 2.21 to 2.0 g/dL.
4. But my serum lambda FLC rose from 19.7 to 22.8 mg/dL … bummer. I wasn’t expecting this, and I’m not sure what to make of my IgG going down while my lambda FLC goes up?
Will know more after my next test … but ANY COMMENTS / GUESSES would be welcome in the meantime.
A few key points:
1. One data point doesn’t make a trend.
2. For those of you that speak stats, my latest IgG data point is still (but just barely) within one standard deviation of all the data samples I’ve been tracking since 11/2012. But as you can see from the attached graphs, my IgG tends to oscillate and this latest dip could also just be a normal oscillation. My lambda FLC was already on the rise and this latest result is outside of one standard deviation.
- Graphs - Copy.JPG (38.55 KiB) Viewed 1648 times
3. My HDL went from 35 to 36 mg/dL, which is a tiny improvement. But my LDL went from 91 to 140, which was a big, negative change … and this has me concerned. I’m discussing this LDL issue now with my GP. I may just add niacin and I've already added plant sterols to my diet to deal with this new LDL issue, given I want to continue with the fenofibrate experiment just a bit longer. We may just add Lipitor back in (but be careful when mixing statins and fibrates …these can have nasty side effects depending on which drugs you are mixing ... so make sure your GP really knows what he is doing).
4. Based on this one data point, I will continue with fenofibrate for another 2-3 months and I will hope that the IgG trend continues … and that my lambda free light chain will turn around.
5. When I get re-checked in about 3 months, I will figure out whether to continue my fenofibrate and what next to do about my cholesterol levels, depending on where all my lab results end up.
6. In summary, one can’t really draw any conclusions on whether the fenofibrate is impacting my multiple myeloma … at least not yet. And remember that everyone responds differently to different drugs.
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Multibilly - Name: Multibilly
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Smoldering, Nov, 2012
Re: Fenofibrate (Tricor) and multiple myeloma
Really appreciate your posting this update Multibilly. These are some interesting results.
I'm not sure how this enters into the interpretation of your results, but I believe lambda light chains have a much shorter half lives than overall IgG molecules, which supposedly makes them a more sensitive measure of what's going on with Ig levels.
However, I'm not really seeing that in the results you've posted, so I'm hesitant to make too big a deal out of the sensitivity. I just wanted to mention it, however, in case you want to keep it in mind as you look at the results and try to interpret them.
I'm not sure how this enters into the interpretation of your results, but I believe lambda light chains have a much shorter half lives than overall IgG molecules, which supposedly makes them a more sensitive measure of what's going on with Ig levels.
However, I'm not really seeing that in the results you've posted, so I'm hesitant to make too big a deal out of the sensitivity. I just wanted to mention it, however, in case you want to keep it in mind as you look at the results and try to interpret them.
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