Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum.  ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.

Hepatitis C Community

This forum is for questions about medical issues and research aspects of Hepatitis C such as, questions about being newly diagnosed, questions about current treatments, information and participation in discussions about research studies and clinical trials related to Hepatitis. If you would like to communicate with other people who have been touched by Hepatitis, please visit our new Hepatitis Social/Living with Hepatitis forum
Post a Question Back to Forum
 | 
MedHelp Member's Question

HEP C AND CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA (CLL)??

by Sad Summer, Apr 21, 2007 12:00AM
Hi.  In Nov i was diagnosed with CLL, with all of the tests they ran, they also found that i have Hep C, stage 2.  The Cancer doc says he can't treat the cll cuz chemo will fry my liver - the gi dr says the drugs used for hep c (interferon & ribo) could mess up my bone marrow, making my CLL worse...  So after extensive (so she says) reasearch by the GI dr, they cannot find ANY case studies of someone in my shoes!!  i know i can't be the ONLY one in the world with both?? Can I??  if anyone knows of someone please let me know - or if your dr does??  Or if you know of other forums i might check...  ANYTHING could help...  Thank you.
Member Comments (4)

by hommeworks, Apr 21, 2007 12:00AM
I'm not in the exact same boat as you. My HCV triggered large 'B' cell lymphoma which is a non-hogdkins lympoma. This has to be treated with chemo. My case gets a little more complicated. I've been transplanted. So I face a myriad of complications with chemo.
Normal chemo treatment calls for a course of drugs with an acronym of 'CHOP'. I have been getting treatment with a course of drugs with an acronym of 'CNOP'. I don't know the exact difference other than CNOP is easier on patients with liver complications. At this point my CNOP treatment has caused organ rejection which can be dealt with. It has almost eliminated the cancer after 2 chemo treatments.
You may want to ask your oncologist about CNOP.

by jmjm530, Apr 21, 2007 12:00AM
To: Sad
First of all, especially since your case is a bit complicated, I'd get a referral to a liver specialist (hepatologist) as opposed to having the situation evaluated by a GI. Hepatologists have much more experience treating Hep C, especially more complicated cases.

Here's a link to an  older article that might be helpful.
http://tinyurl.com/yrcrct

You can order up the article test online or visit a medical library. Your doctor should also have access to it. Another thought is to email the authors and ask if they've done any more research on this issue as well as eliciting their opinion on your situation.

All the best,

-- Jim

by MissMiss, Apr 21, 2007 12:00AM
To: Sad Summer
Oh, I am so sorry for what you are going thru.  I don't have much to add except that it was an MRI that showed abnormal bone marrow in my shoulder that led me to the dx of HCV.  I tx'd 48 weeks, at 6 mo post I was und and am now about 8-9 mo post tx.  The abnormal bone marrow worsened on tx but I am told it isn't anything to worry about.  At my age, 50's, the marrow in my shoulders shouldn't be yellow marrow but somehow it is.  IT is normal for developing children but not adults.  (I think I have that right) They say it isn't anything to worry about and may take several years to turn into normal marrow.  

I don't know how this may relate to what you are going thru but since I can't think of a single person here with anything similiar happening to them, I wanted to share this.  I always worried about Leukemia when I first got the abnormal bone marrow news but so far so good.  I will be very interested in how things pan out for you.  

A big hug and well wishes your way.

miss

by jmjm530, Apr 21, 2007 12:00AM
To: Sad
First of all, especially since your case is a bit complicated, I'd get a referral to a liver specialist (hepatologist) as opposed to having the situation evaluated by a GI. Hepatologists have much more experience treating Hep C, especially more complicated cases.

Here's a link to an  older article that might be helpful.
http://tinyurl.com/yrcrct

You can order up the article test online or visit a medical library. Your doctor should also have access to it. Another thought is to email the authors and ask if they've done any more research on this issue as well as eliciting their opinion on your situation.

All the best,

-- Jim

by hippygem, Apr 21, 2007 12:00AM
To: sad summer
I did a search in pubmed for studies done on this, here is the link to 89 articles

by Sad Summer, Apr 21, 2007 12:00AM
To: hippygem
Hippygem, i don't see a link on your message.

by lackalustre, Apr 21, 2007 12:00AM
To: sad summer
i  treated my hepc in 03 and cured - geno 2b.  treated 28 weeks.   BUT   i now have a bone marrow disorder called polycythemia.  i know how you feel in that no one else seems to have these things..  only 1 in 200,000 people for mine.   i produce too many red blood cells. so far my platelets have not sky rocketed like most with this.  but if my hct goes over 50 i have to have a phlebotomy, blood removed.  this high hct puts me at high risk for heart attack and stroke. not to mention myelofibrosis, hardening of the bone marrow that can be fatal/and or leukemia.   doctors dont seem to know all that much about this and im not even sure im being treated correctly.   this causes fatigue and headache.    i think i may have had it before i even start hepc treatment as i have had high hct for years.   finally saw a new dr. who picked it up and sent me to a hemetologist.     the pegasys/riba was very very hard for me to take and i wonder if it made this PV worse or more active.....
   because of my liver fibrosis i know i could not tolerate chemo or strong drugs  that would otherwise be used to treat my problems down the road.  i jsut take it one day at a time......

by hippygem, Apr 21, 2007 12:00AM
To: sad summer
Hi there, sorry about that..lol...headfog..(sick of sayin brainfog), anyway here is the link, there are 34 articles here, the last search I did I omitted the 'chronic' word.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=pubmed

by hippygem, Apr 21, 2007 12:00AM
To: lackalustre
Are you a smoker?

by friole, Apr 22, 2007 12:00AM
To: sad summer
I would think this is a really tricky issue.  Is your lymph count already so high that you need to undergo treatment?  I have 2 friends with CLL -- one that was dx a couple of years ago and her lymph count is not so high yet that she needs to treat, and the other who treated last year.  During treatment for CLL her white blood counts dropped to almost nothing (under 1.00 and she had to cease treatment.  

I think you will need to be under the treatment of a hemotologist and oncologist for this one and, like Jim said, a knowledgeable hepatologist -- all working together.

If you are already at a stage that you need to be treated for the CLL than I believe that would take priority.  

My thoughts are with you.
Frijole

by lackalustre, Apr 22, 2007 12:00AM
To: hipygem
no im not a smoker and have been into natural foods/health most of my life!  i do have thyroid problems now as well.   with nodules/growths on my thyroid, too small to biopysy yet.    i think the interferon may have contributed.

by ThankfulSC, Mar 10, 2008 09:33PM
To: sad summer
My husband has the hep c antigen and Cll.  He had chemo a year and a half ago for the CLL after a painfully enlarged spleen attack. He still takes rituxan treatments every six months for the first two years.  He has two more rituxan treatments.  His liver enzymes went up a bit but his oncologist did not seem to be concerned.  His liver