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Stage 4 Malignant Melanoma internal
Cancer | Last Active: Aug 1, 2023 | Replies (20)Comment receiving replies
My malignant melanoma was cut out and no further signs; thus no experience with any drugs/therapy. I am however, very leery of chemo-type drugs (not sure if the drugs that have been mentioned are chemo or not) for various reasons. From the limited time on this Mayo discussion board, I will say that there are folks on here that really try to help you out/answer your questions; thus, come back often! They also seem very caring and I would bet even say a few prayers for you. If anything progresses with any of my issues (PVC's, sinus packed full of polyps, etc...), Mayo is on the short list for help.
Replies to "My malignant melanoma was cut out and no further signs; thus no experience with any drugs/therapy...."
Thank you for the information. Just wondering are you cancer free? How long?
Pam
That's great. I also had my tumors removed and nothing has showed up. I Will be going every 3 months for my PET SCANS. I will prayer for all who have cancer. Thanks for sharing.
Pam
Welcome back to Connect, Lynn. I love it when you pop in with such great information, experience and support for others. What a treasured member of this community you are. Thank you.
Pam, you were asking Lynn how long she has been cancer free. In an earlier post, she mentioned NED. In this case, she wasn't referring to a man's name but rather an acronym. NED = no evidence of disease. The medical profession shys away from saying "cancer free" and prefers the no evidence of disease phrase, meaning there's no sign of cancer that they can see through all the tests.
Lynn reports that she is 6 years living with NED. How about you, Pam?
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They have basically moved away ( at least for now) conventional chemotherapy and are now using targeted drugs like the B-raf and MEK inhibitors and Immunotherapy drugs like Ipilimumab ( yervoy) Nivolumab (opdivo) and Keytruda...they basically take off the brakes and kick up the immune system ( the opposite of chemo which kills fast growing cells, good and bad ones) . IL-2, interferon were the oldest drugs approved by the FDA for melanoma. Leukine is different in that it is a man-made protein that stimulates the growth of white blood cells in your body. Interferon is also a group of proteins known as cytokines, molecules used for communication between cells to trigger the protective defenses-they are found in the body and also man made...they don't do much for melanoma but do have some nasty side effects. Ipilimumab ( yervoy) Nivolumab (opdivo) and Keytruda are considered the gold star of melanoma treatments now. They are also doing TIL therapy but it is more complicated and does not have as high of response rate as Nivolumab or Keytruda.