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Decrease leukemia without TKI?

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Good morning,
I was diagnosed with CML back in July 2023. I took Imatinib until April 2024 and then switched to Desatinib due to the side effects. Everything was going very well until July 2025 when I was referred urgently to do a gastroscopy and colonoscopy.
My intestine was all inflamed therefore at the end of October I agreed with my Hematologist to stop temporarily taking Desatinib. My leukemia at that time was 0.012%.
I am now on a waiting list to see a gastroenterite doctor but there is a strong possibility that I might have IBD. I am hoping it is inducted drug colics so let's see.
Since stopping the tki I stopped eating sugar and I have started taking quercetin complex and curcumin on a daily basis.
I did the BCR test back in December (6 weeks after stopping the treatment) and to my surprise yesterday they told me it is now 0.0060%.
I did another BCR test yesterday and my next appointment is in May.
I keep thinking that cutting the sugar might have contributed to this success although the hematologist keeps telling me that scientifically it is not proved that sugar contribute to feed cancer cells.
Has anybody cut down on sugar and see an improvement to the results?
How is it possible my leukemia went down without TKI?
My hematologist thinks that desatinib is so powerful that is still working in my body. As you can see from my results Desatinib was working very slowly while taking it.

Sept 2024: 0.027
Nov 2024: 0.031
May 2025: 0.017
Sept 2025: 0.012
Stop medication end of Oct / no more sugar
December 2025: 0.0060

I am looking forward to see my next result in order to see if I can keep the results I have. I did start eating a bit of sugar since December so let's see.

Thank you
Francesca

I don't believe the dasatinib is still active in your body. It has a short half-life and is almost completely flushed out of your system within 24 hours.

If you look back on this forum you'll find a few people who have had "accidental" attempts at treatment free remission. It sounds like you might be on start of this journey too!

David.

Regarding your gastric and colonic issues may I suggest that you try probiotics.
There is a whole world of the immune system, inflammation and the gut -most tkis and perhaps also cml itself can compromise the immune system and lead to additional inflammation.Mine is a long story but recently diagnosed for late age asthma my respiratory specialist had me tested for the level of antibodies re resistance to bacterial pneumonia and the results showed that my immune system was very low and weak -so I had a booster jab that has led to a much stronger level of antibodies.In addition I suffer from sigmoid diverticulosis and have had periodic flare ups that are very uncomfortable.
It was suggested that I might try probiotics -you can try live yoghurts and kefirs as a starting point but I am currently on two different probiotics one in liquid form and one in capsule form -lactobacillus acididophilus is one of the contents.The result is that a previous hiatus hernia and severe reflux has gone and the colon is now much more settled. The result is actually quite remarkable. You need to experiment before you find the most effective one for you.

I have the book "The Probiotics revolution" by Dr Gary Huffnagle that goes through treating IBS ,enhancing the immune function ,curbing inflammation and preventing allergies like asthma amongst others.
Have you had your VitaminD level tested as that can impact the immune system.
In addition I pay lots of attention to diet (fruit ,seeds, nuts and veg, fish , etc) exercise, lifestyle. I didn't at age 80 fancy surgery for any part of my intestines as they are thinning with age !
Hope this helps
John

Good morning John, thank your reply..
I have started taking the probiotics capsules a month ago. Due to my lifestyle I am unable to take them everyday. They should be taken during breakfast and that is my issue.
I will take a look at the book you mentioned. There must a probiotics capsules that I can take at lunch time.
My stomach is getting every day much better so I have the feeling that mine was drug induced colics. Maybe I should have taken the probiotics when I was taking Dasatinib.
I am just really surprises how much the BCR dropped since cutting dow the sugar. Does sugar have a huge impact on CML?
No idea about my vitamin D. My hematologist told me it was all good recently. I will ask next time about vitamin D.
Thank you