This is a very early head’s up.  Things are moving so fast that sometimes I have to alert you with information that might be a little bit premature.  Please take that into account as you read this alert.

I came across several interesting bits of news – some that you can use today.  Let me know what you think.

A certain percentage of patients undergo the dreaded “Richter’s transformation” into a far more aggressive lymphoma.   But it is not an automatic kiss-of-death.  Here is the real-life story of a patient whose experiences should give you reassurance.

That is not a typo, I do indeed mean Vitamin A and not the usual Vitamin D story that we have discussed umpteen times before.  It seems Vitamin A may help reduce risk of aggressive melanoma.  Who knew.  And have you heard of Merkl Cell Carcinoma, a skin cancer just as deadly as malignant melanoma?

The risk of basal cell carcinoma is significantly higher in CLL patients than in the general public.  Given our immune dysfunction, it is also likely to be more aggressive and harder to treat.  I am pleased to report FDA approval of a brand new drug (“Erivedge“)for aggressive basal cell carcinoma.

That is the title of a recent article in the European Journal of Cancer Care.  Sounds like something you may recognize?  Read on.  You are not going crazy, you are not  the only one feeling frustrated.

When too many hematopoietic stem cells die, the body is no longer able to make new blood cells (red blood cells, platelets, neutrophils etc). Patients may become transfusion dependent, just to stay alive.  Aggressive chemotherapy may cause this type of pancytopenia, especially in elderly patients.

There are not that many good articles dealing with quality of life issues for cancer patients.  There are no studies at all, when it comes to QOL for caregivers. Are there any options besides the usual anti-depressants?  If these new clinical trial work as well as expected, we may have some truly out of this world  therapeutic choices in dealing with depression.

Majority of CLL patients die of uncontrolled infections – pneumonia is the most common killer. Our guys are no strangers to secondary skin cancer either.  Immune dysfunction is baked into the CLL cake, often made worse by chemotherapy.  Anything that can improve immune function can save lives. In that context, this could easily be the most important review I have / will ever publish.

If you thought I was going to talk about the dollar cost of Rituxan, you are wrong.  Heaven knows this drug is very expensive, dollar wise.  But this article is about the hidden costs of this famous monoclonal antibody drug in terms of its not-so-well documented adverse effects.