3 months out from Campath

From: Becca- rwalker@geo.arizona.edu
Date: 21 Oct 2004
Time: 00:48:06 -0400
Remote Name: 68.228.58.9

Comments

Hi everyone, So glad to see that the forum is up and running again! I just wanted to pass along an update. I had no response to the ATG that I received in January. I spent the month of July getting retreated at the NIH, but this time I received Campath 1-H, a monoclonal antibody. It was a 10 day infusion and significantly easier than the ATG. (Much milder side effects, no prednisone, no cyclosporine, etc.) It knocked my lymphocyte count down to .004 (ie, 4), and that count is still only .08. At first, my transfusion requirement increased, and I was hospitalized twice for infections with a neutrophil count of less than 100 and no response to G-CSF. After ~7 weeks, though, my neutrophils began to rise very slowly, and my transfusion requirements began to decrease. I am now going 17 days for reds and 7-8 for platelets. At my 3 month appointment at the NIH this week, my reticulocytes were at an all-time high of 31.5 thousand and neutrophils were 900. I was only the 3rd person to receive Campath for aplastic anemia, so it's hard to say for sure what's going on. According to the doctors, I'm out of the "danger zone" for neutrophils and something is happening. At this point, it's "cautious optimism" and we'll see how things are in another 3 months. As far as medication, I'm taking an antiviral as prophylaxis (no side effects) and am getting IV desferol twice a week to get rid of iron. I hope that things are going well for everyone! If you have any questions about the Campath protocol, you're welcome to e-mail me.