Also, you'll find a discussion about an 85 yr old with AML and vidaza here:

http://community.lls.org/message/34773#34773

Hi Momto,

Welcome, sorry you needed to join us here!  If he's going to Sloan Kettering, I'm assuming he's in the NY area and I believe there is a Dr. Gail Roboz in NY - she is at Weill Cornell I believe.  Anyway, she has been touted as an expert in elderly AML, so might be one to consult with.  Just a thought.  I've listened to a couple webcasts she's participated in, and the woman strikes me as being sharp as a tack, yet very compassionate and caring.

The blasts not being detected in his peripheral blood is a positive thing, I would think - meaning the leukemia blasts are confined to the marrow at this point and not spilling over into the bloodstream.  I'm no doctor, of course.  Do you know what the blast percentage from his bone marrow biopsy was?  The subtype of leukemia will guide the doctors to some extent as to his treatment; however, in the beginning treatment is fairly standard.  Although we do see deviations from the standard induction treatment in the case of co-morbidities like heart disease, diabetes, liver/kidney issues, blood pressure issues and the like. 

If you haven't done so already, you might do a search of this site using the terms AML and elderly and see what you come up with.  We have seen older patients go through the standard induction treatment, some handle it better than others, but you see that in the younger patients as well.  He can have visitors while he's in the neutropenic phase of treatment (when his blood counts, especially his WBC, are low) as long as they are not sick and observe the hygiene protocols.  I was able to walk the halls with a face mask so long as I stayed away from any rooms that contained a patient with an infection (designated in my hospital with a yellow cart outside the room).  Some days my walking area was a bit restricted!  The sight of a child also caused me to do a 180, since children are more or less walking germ factories, the little dears.  They gave me a pretty nice private room, though - it wasn't so bad.

Sorry your Dad is dealing with this.  I hope I answered your questions, and if you have more, you know where to find us!  Best wishes.

- WBF

I concur with what WBF wrote.  The final word will be your dad's doc so there can always be variations.  I do agree that the lack of cells ub the bloodstream is a good thing.  I don't think the difference between m4 and m5 would slow down the treatment timing.  But there might be some variations.  And, sometimes, it's hard to tell what the subtype is beause both forms of the disease exist.

Most doctors seem to be focusing more on the cytogenics reports than FAB subtype these days, anyway.  The 'n numbers' are, perhaps, more useful in describing the disease to the patient.  Again, your dad's doc is the expert on this.

I'm sorry your family, especially your dad, are having to go through this.  I hope this works out well.

Blessings

Wish I had an answer for you.  I don't know if those tests were ever run on me.  I had normal cytos, too.

I have read a few times that someone wasn't tested for the flt3 but I'm not even sure I've heard of the other two.  The whole genetics thing didn't apply to me, so I didn't bother confusing the matter by learning about them.

Blessings