Neutropenia with Verzenio?

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SchnauzerMom
SchnauzerMom Member Posts: 374
edited November 2020 in Stage IV/Metastatic Breast Cancer ONLY

Has anyone had a problem with neutropenia on Verzenio? I've been on it 25 months, and this has started recently. My neutrophils were .9 last week and .8 today. No Verzenio for two weeks or until counts come up. (Makes me feel unprotected.) Scan scheduled for Tuesday to see if something's going on. UGH!! Liver functions are normal, no bone pain, and nothing unusual detected with palpation. ??? Any ideas from your experience? Thanks!`

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  • vlnrph
    vlnrph Member Posts: 1,632
    edited September 2020

    Interesting about ANC dropping after two years on abemaciclib treatment. I’m at 23 months and this afternoon had a count of 0.94 - MD was going to suggest a drug holiday but I said my preference would be to stay on it and recheck labs in a couple weeks so he agreed to that.

    Hopefully others with more experience will come along. How did your scan turn out?

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  • SchnauzerMom
    SchnauzerMom Member Posts: 374
    edited September 2020

    vinrph, thanks or your reply. Sorry you're experiencing this, too. Scan did not turn out well, so now it's Piqray and Faslodex. Been on that for a week now. Liver biopsy today to check for possible changes in tumor.

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  • vlnrph
    vlnrph Member Posts: 1,632
    edited September 2020

    Happy to say my count popped up to 1.4 this afternoon which means no drug holiday - I will continue on my 100mg twice a day. I would have accepted a pause in therapy if required but then might have become concerned about needing to stop Verzenio altogether and making a switch to something else.

    One thing that may have helped boost the number were taking a multivitamin with more B12 (and eating dark chocolate!) As we age, absorption can be affected and ingesting a greater amount is not harmful so I decided to try it. Some people with a severe deficiency are treated with cyanocobalamin by injection.

    There was actually an Italian observational study done recently using Lindt 90% cocoa, drawing samples before and after. The authors warned that this kind of dietary intake can influence blood tests, leading to variability in results. Curiously, other supplements such as high doses of biotin are also known to interfere with certain labs.

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  • vlnrph
    vlnrph Member Posts: 1,632
    edited November 2020

    Another low number this month: 1.0 with recheck coming in at 1.1 despite using my dark chocolate treatment. The report published in an Iranian journal suggested that cocoa helps 'unstick' the cells, making them more available to be counted via lab tests...

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