LC,
Their is a test called the BCR-ABL which determines the presents of blasts, defective white cells, down to .0001%. Prior to having stem cells, at times I achieved zero, but a month or two later they were back up to .00XX%. Effectively anything above zero is saying you still have a problem, but chemo has it under control. Since the stem cells, I've never had a test that wasn't zero, so it definitely made a huge difference. It's very possible I could drop the chemo and remain there, but the chance of coming out of remission is certainly increased. My Dr. and I thus far have reduced the amount of chemo, and probably will reduce it further, but at my age I wouldn't ever want to go through everything again if I came out of remission, so a little chemo will probably remain part of my life.
In Europe I saw that trials are being initiated that remove chemo for 1 month in 4, if successful they'll go to 1 in 3, then 1 in 2, and may progress all the way to taking it for 1 than 3 months off. These trials will probably take decades to get meaningful results. On more than one occasion when in the hospital I didn't get the drug for up to a week and the Dr. wasn't concerned, essentially he's told me that I can choose to take a few days off when I have something special to do without fear.
Perhaps some day they'll be able to determine who will, and who won't come out of remission when the chemo's removed. For now they don't have such a test and while only a small percentage come out, they cannot say who they'll be. Both my Dr. and I tend to be conservative, at least at this time.
Gary
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