Cytarabine

Question: How could the hemogloblin count go up during chemotherapy? I got some results that show that as a patient was getting chemotherapy (Daunorubicin and Cytarabine), the amoutn of white blood cells and platelets went down, but the mass of hemogloblin per Liter went up. Anybody able to explain this?

Answer: Possible that the patient being treated with a red blood cell booster drug like Arnasep or Procrit? (i.e. EPO.) My hemoglobin was ridiculously low at diagnosis for advanced stage Hodgkin's Disease -- it was actually around 7.0. So I started getting Arnasep shots and it increased despite the chemo. Once it hit 11.0, the Arnasep was discontinued, but my hemoglobin still kept climbing despite the chemo. If the patient was like me and had a heavy disease burden, perhaps knocking back the cancer is allowing the body and bone marrow to function better. Would also consider dehydration -- makes the blood more concentrated which can make the hemoglobin level seem higher.

Question: ARA-C/Cytarabine question? Can anyone tell me anything about ARA-C. I will ask my son's oncologist all about it when he goes in on Tuesday but I'd like to be prepared. I would especially like to hear from people who have had this med or know someone who has and I'd like to know your individual reactions to this medication. He is 13 months, diagnosed at 11 months with High Risk Pre-cursor B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic/Lymphocytic Leukemia.

Answer: I have aml and was treated with this in the high dose form. The ara c did not cause me to loose my hair, but it did cause horrible skin reactions. It was almost like I was burnt from the inside out. My whole body was red, and it burned but was itchy at the same time. It was horrible. THey treated the reaction iwth attarax and different creams. It did cause a lot of nausea for me, but really, skin reaction was the worst.

Question: what is cytarabine used for? (it is a drug)?

Answer: Cytarabine is used to help treat certain types of leukemia's. Cytarabine is also used to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphomato Cytarabine belongs a group of drugs known as antimetabolites. It resembles a normal cell nutrient needed by cancer cells to grow. The cancer cells take up cytarabine, which then interferes with their growth. It can be taken either by injection in a vein under the skin of the forearm or in some cases injected into the spinal cord Check with your Dr before taking any meds that is not prescribed to you

Question: Question on DNA? Cytarabine is a drug used to treat cancer. it inhibits an enzyme needed to synthesize new DNA. Suggest how the DNA content in the cell would be different at the start of mitosis if cytarabine is present during cell cycle The shape of a cytarabine moelecule is very similar to that of a cytosine nucleotide but there are some differences. cytarabine is incoporated into DNA. Suggest 2 reasons why DNA which contains cytarabine instead of cytosine cannot produce mRNA.

Answer: this drug acts as a competitive inhibitor. The molecular shape of the drug is similiar to that of Cytosine, so that the drug can fit into the substrate, however it cannot work to synthesize DNA because it is not a nucleotide, and certainly not cytosine, in which is needed to produce mRNA. Even though the drug 'fits' into the specific substrate, it is not chemically the correct molecule that is needed for DNA replication. The drug works as a competitive inhibitor, therefore blocking the active site in which cytosine needs to bind, halting the production of new DNA.

Question: Biology help- the cell cycle? Suggest how cytarabine could cause an AML patient to become more prone to infection than before the treatment.

Answer: I am assuming AML means acute myeloid leukemia. As for the side effects of cytarabine, just look it up. It's very complicated, but usually any chemotherapeutic agent is also toxic to other cells in the body besides the ones it is being used to eradicate. A decrease in white blood cells would cause anyone to be more prone to infections.

Question: Can anyone Please help a Lukemia patient financially? ? This patient was diagnosed to have Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Nov 2005. He was treated with chemotherapy (totally one induction cycle with daunorubicin + cytarabine following which he went into remission followed by 4 cycles of high dose cytarabine consolidation chemotherapy). He was in and out of the hospital for 7 months at that time. Ideally a matched related transplant would have the highest chances of cure; however his only brother was not a match, so he proceeded with the only option for cure available to him at that time, namely chemotherapy. Things were going on fine…..a year passed…….he had a baby boy……then another year passed…..and he breathed……thought it was over…till a few days ago. This patient was diagnosed to have a relapse of the Leukemia on a routine blood test….and so it begins…. He just went through induction chemotherapy at Manipal Hospital, Bangalore. His Bone Marrow Biopsy is due 2 weeks from now to confirm remission. His hemato-oncologist is Dr. Ashish Dixit, a truly wonderful, caring physician. He recommends that his patient undergo a Matched Unrelated Donor Bone Marrow Transplant to ensure sustained remission as chemotherapy alone is unlikely to cure the disease at this point. Unfortunately, unrelated transplants are not being done in India as we do not have a well established donor registry plus we do not have the facility for high resolution HLA typing which ensures that the donor selected matches closest to this patient otherwise potentially life threatening complications may occur. His doctor has advised that we consider the US or Singapore for the transplant. The transplant costs are very high: 250,000-500,000 US dollars is the lowest estimate in the US. Singapore would be approximately half the cost. We are considering Singapore as an option as long as we are able to garner the funds required. His doctor says that the favourable aspects of this patient's case are that he's young and that the relapse has happened very late (3 years later). There is a good chance that he will be cured of this terrible disease with the transplant. Thanks to the support of family and friends so far, we've been able to reach halfway with the target of Rs. 100 lakhs. We still have a long way to go…… If you can support us in any way, please do so. Also, if you know anyone who'd be interested in supporting us through this crazy time……please let them know. If anyone is interested in helping then please answer this. i will supply you with the details of the hospital where he has to undergo this procedure. You can send the money over there directly to the hospital with the patients name. Please pray for his speedy recovery.

Answer: He should talk with a social worker from the hospital, they will know the proper people to contact for financial help. I hope and pray that he is now back in remission.

Question: Should a 90 year-old get the same medical care that a 20 year-old gets.? Before you scream "DEATH PANEL!" at me please hear out my argument. Some of you may have heard about the recent cytarabine shortage, it is a cancer drug for a type of leukemia that has survival rate of 0% if not treated and about 40-50% if treated with the drug, it is the only drug that can treat this type of leukemia and can be contracted by someone of any age. This is not the only drug shortage that we have, and most people aren't even aware that we are having drug shortages. This is not an issue that anyone seems to want to talk about but I think it is something that needs to be talked about, respectfully, should we really be using drugs like cytarabine on people that most likely don't have many years left. Of course we should do whatever is in our power to help people if possible, but I think we actually need to be rational about this and realize that there are now 7 billion people in the world right now and we don't have an infinite supply of drugs. I do think we should do whatever we can to make someones last years as comfortable as possible but it's just not reasonable to treat a 90 year-old with the some urgency as a 20 year-old. This is my opinion and I know it's controversial, but I want to know what you guys think. What I've described is not the same Eugenics Hitler prescribed to, and the Progressives of Hitlers time are not the Progressives of today. I don't want people to misunderstand my intentions, I wish we could treat every single person in the entire world, but right now it's impossible, we are treating 90 year-olds who go into remission and then die the next year of "natural causes" I don't want to gas the elderly or "pull the plug" on them, I want us to do what we can but we need to understand that we don't have an infinite supply of drugs to treat people.

Answer: According to Obama and his people you should cut off resources after a certain age. That is Holdren's view and the view of most involved in the question in the Obama administration. It comes right out of Eugenics is the funny thing, the book Hitler used to justify and create his social engineering programs. I'm not joking, Hitler asked for the book from Progressives, they sent it, he used it, Progressives openly loved Hitler until it became dangerous to acknowledge this in public. He was progressing with their program way ahead of them. Death Panels is a good way to describe them. Unless you prescribe to the philosophy of treating humans as live stock, it's an ugly deal. That's the problem with Government controlled lives, you become live stock to them, and they have the power to treat you as such.

Question: Why did hospitals hve enough drugs to treat people under Bush? Is the shortage of drugs a sign of Obamacare? A growing shortage of medications for a host of illnesses — from cancer to cystic fibrosis to cardiac arrest — has hospitals scrambling for substitutes to avoid patient harm, and sometimes even delaying treatment. "It's just a matter of time now before we call for a drug that we need to save a patient's life and we find out there isn't any," says Dr. Eric Lavonas of the American College of Emergency Physicians. The problem of scarce supplies or even completely unavailable medications isn't a new one but it's getting markedly worse. The number listed in short supply has tripled over the past five years, to a record 211 medications last year. While some of those have been resolved, another 89 drug shortages have occurred in the first three months of this year, according to the University of Utah's Drug Information Service. It tracks shortages for the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. The vast majority involve injectable medications used mostly by medical centers — in emergency rooms, ICUs and cancer wards. Particular shortages can last for weeks or for many months, and there aren't always good alternatives. Nor is it just a U.S. problem, as other countries report some of the same supply disruptions. It's frightening for families. At Miami Children's Hospital, doctors had to postpone for a month the last round of chemotherapy for 14-year-old Caroline Pallidine, because of a months-long nationwide shortage of cytarabine, a drug considered key to curing a type of leukemia. Good job Usurper.

Answer: Wow...

Question: Where does Cytarabine come from? I am doing a project for Marine Biology, and apparently it comes from a marine organism. Anyone know if this is true?

Answer: The drug was isolated from the Caribbean sponge Cryptotheca crypta. http://www.futurepharm.com

Question: Is there any risk having unprotected sex 3 months after finishing Chemo? My husband is in complete remission for leukemia (AML) after going through 5 cycles of high doses of cytarabine.The last one ended exactly 3 months ago. We asked the Dr. about sex but they didn't know anything. We want to have a baby so that is not the problem. We had unprotected sex for the first time. Is there any risk for the baby in case his sperm worked and I got pregnant? I can't find any info about this online, all I find is information about sex DURING chemo which is not the case.

Answer: Hello, There are no set guidelines for how long men or women should wait to have a child after cancer treatment. But it might not be ‘the best time’ for you and your husband to be trying for a baby right now. This is because chemotherapy can cause the sperm production to slow down. So although I cannot completely rule out the possibility of pregnancy, it might not happen at the moment. Sperm levels can return to ‘normal’ but this can take a year or even longer. Unfortunately sometimes the sperm count does not recover . Also your husband’s sperm may have been damaged by the chemotherapy he recently received. This can increase the risks of having a baby with health problems. So many doctors recommend waiting at least a year before trying to start a family and some even suggest waiting longer so that the sperm can recover. I can appreciate that your husband’s doctor did not offer any specific advice when he asked about this. But do try to talk to them again, as they should be able to discuss this with you both. Disclaimer: We hope this general information is helpful. For any specific queries we recommend you seek independent professional advice. See the full Yahoo! Answers disclaimer here: http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/info/disclai…

Question: Is there any risk having unprotected sex 3 months after finishing Chemo? My husband is in complete remission for leukemia (AML) after going through 5 cycles of high doses of cytarabine.The last one ended exactly 3 months ago. We asked the Dr. about sex but they didn't know anything. We want to have a baby so that is not the problem. We had unprotected sex for the first time. Is there any risk for the baby in case his sperm worked and I got pregnant? I can't find any info about this online, all I find is information about sex DURING chemo which is not the case.

Answer: Contraception It's not advisable to become pregnant or father a child while having cytarabine as it may harm the developing baby. It’s important to use effective contraception while having this drug and for at least a few months afterwards. You can discuss this with your doctor. It’s not known whether chemotherapy drugs can be present in semen or vaginal fluids. To protect your partner, it’s safest to either avoid sex or use a barrier form of contraception for about 48 hours after chemotherapy. Chuffed your husband is in remission, very best of luck to the two of you. http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinform…