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Advice prior to start of TKI

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Hi everyone,

My husband will be starting with TKI nilotinib next week. I've been reading about a lot of side effects of this medication. Also I got to know that one of my friends mom recently passed on one year after started on imatinib due to CML. She was 60++ yrs old. 

To be honest I'm very worried. According to my friend, his mom did not die because of leukemia but more because of the side effects of taking imatinib. After started taking these TKI, her health dwindled (some organs start to fail)...

my question: what do we need to take note so that we don't run into situation where TKI start causing other organs to fail? Does this mean we need to be active (exercise) or have some special diet?

or does age have an impact of CML survival while on TKI?

 

thanks in advance 

rgds, Jacq

Hi again,

I know it's frustrating, but the TKIs do all the heavy-lifting in terms of fighting CML. Wouldn't it be great if we knew that eating this or that, and exercising so much would push back the CML further? Then we'd feel in control a bit more.

There's one caveat to the above - blood results may indicate biochemistry results that need attention. For example if the results show that the liver is working very hard, avoiding alcohol is probably a good idea. But these are not too frequent to be honest, and the doctor would discuss this. 

The truth is that it's a good idea for everyone to get some exercise, eat well and stay in good shape - CML or not. The only thing in terms of diet really is to avoid grapefruits because an enzyme in them interact with the TKI.

David.