[Castaway]

Treatment after stem cell harvest and transplant

by Castaway on Sun Dec 28, 2014 10:27 am

Hello,

I will be having a stem cell harvest in February if all goes well and then a stem cell transplant (SCT) later, due to several obligations.

I just had a visit with my SCT doctor and she said that, after having the stem cells harvested, they would like to reduce my treatments of Velcade / dex down to a maintenance level until i am ready for the SCT. My current treatment is: Velcade on days 1, 4, 8 and 11, and dex 40 mg once per week.

Less drugs sounds great to me, but I don't want to lose what I have gained either. I am not sure what a maintenance dosage would be for the Velcade and the dex. I didn't think to ask her when I had my last visit.

Has anyone had there treatment reduced to a maintenance level after cell collection or after SCT, and how did it work for you?

I am sure there are a lot of variables for a maintenance treatment. Any input would be appreciated.

Thank You, Castaway

[DallasGG]

Re: Treatment after stem cell harvest and transplant

by DallasGG on Mon Dec 29, 2014 1:13 am

I stopped Velcade / Revlimid / dex treatments about 4-6 weeks before my my stem cell collection. I was in complete remission at that time. I had no treatments between the collection and the transplant, which were about a month apart. I was given 2 Velcade treatments while in the hospital for the transplant.

About 126 days after the transplant, I started maintenance treatments of low dose Revlimid (10 mg, 21 out of 28 days) and dexamethasone (8 mg / week). I'm now about 11 months post transplant and, as of 2 months ago, I was still in remission.

[Christa's Mom]

Re: Treatment after stem cell harvest and transplant

by Christa's Mom on Mon Dec 29, 2014 1:26 pm

EJ's induction therapy was Velcade and dex. He was only able to achieve a VGPR with it. They stopped all treatment about 4 - 6 weeks prior to his transplant (I can't remember what the reason was for this). His M-spike did rise a little prior to his transplant. Even with the SCT, he never achieved CR, but he has not had any treatment except Zometa for over 42 months now.

Hope that helps.

Lyn

[Castaway]

Re: Treatment after stem cell harvest and transplant

by Castaway on Tue Dec 30, 2014 11:05 am

Thank you for your input. I have my monthly office meeting with my local oncologist this Friday. He stays in contact with the transplant hospital about my treatments and upcoming stem cell harvest.

I will bring up questions about what to expect weeks before and after the stem cell harvest and also up to the time when I have a transplant. The information you gave me is great.

Thank You, Castaway

[JimNY]

Re: Treatment after stem cell harvest and transplant

by JimNY on Tue Dec 30, 2014 6:03 pm

Hi George,

You probably know this already, but there are a ton of discussions here in the forum about maintenance therapy. Just type "maintenance" into the forum search box and you'll find a list of almost 90 forum discussions on that topic.

If you're looking specifically for the sort of maintenance doses people have had of either Velcade or Revlimid, then there have been a couple of weekly polls here that may be helpful. Here's one on Velcade:

"Weekly Poll - Velcade Maintenance Dosing Schedule," poll started Dec 19, 2012

It doesn't have a lot of responses, because Velcade maintenance wasn't very common at the time (and still isn't all that common), but it may give you some useful feedback.

I don't know if Revlimid is something you're also considering for maintenance but, if it is, then this poll may be helpful as well:

"Weekly Poll - Revlimid Maintenance Dose," poll started Oct 24, 2012.

There may be some other maintenance-related weekly polls that may interest you as well. Just type "maintenance weekly" into the forum search box, and you'll find all the maintenance-related polls.

Hope this helps a bit, and good luck to you.