This is a chemo drug in clinical trials. (I have leukemia)
I'm posting about this drug to let people know of one significant side effect: hair loss.
I'm not talking about the typical hair loss of traditional chemo. That grows back. This is permanent hair loss that never gets better.
ABT-199 works by tipping the Bcl-2/Bax ratio in favor of cell death. One problem with cancer cells is they don't like to die. ABT-199 decreases the level of Bcl-2 (a growth promoter) and ups the level of Bax (a death promoter).
If this is the only drug out there to save your life, then you will be totally bald, but you will be alive (if it works). If there are other drugs out there, my advice is to try them first, and if nothing works, go bald and see it it helps you.
(In my case, ABT-199 has done little. But it's caused more hair loss in six months than in 40 years of normal aging hair loss. I've worked hard many years to save my hair, and it's almost all gone in about six months. I think in eight months or so, I'll be totally bald.)
I'm posting about this drug to let people know of one significant side effect: hair loss.
I'm not talking about the typical hair loss of traditional chemo. That grows back. This is permanent hair loss that never gets better.
ABT-199 works by tipping the Bcl-2/Bax ratio in favor of cell death. One problem with cancer cells is they don't like to die. ABT-199 decreases the level of Bcl-2 (a growth promoter) and ups the level of Bax (a death promoter).
If this is the only drug out there to save your life, then you will be totally bald, but you will be alive (if it works). If there are other drugs out there, my advice is to try them first, and if nothing works, go bald and see it it helps you.
(In my case, ABT-199 has done little. But it's caused more hair loss in six months than in 40 years of normal aging hair loss. I've worked hard many years to save my hair, and it's almost all gone in about six months. I think in eight months or so, I'll be totally bald.)