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Going Beyond Standard Immunotherapy

Lung Cancer | Last Active: Sep 14, 2021 | Replies (42)

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@merpreb

@dutchw- Good morning and Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Thank you for sharing your story. I am a mentor for Mayo Connect's Lung Cancer and Lung Diseases. I have an unusual lung cancer called Multifocal Adenocarcinoma. I have survived two types of lung cancer for 23+ years and have never had immunotherapy, although I have had chemotherapy. I am sorry if I have given the impression that I have taken this wonderful drug.

@miriam57; @richcolleen- I have found that many people who have finished their two years on Keytruda are followed very closely with CT scans. I am at a loss to tell you that there are other drugs right now that will maintain you. Keytruda is "Humanized antibodies" This means that they are antibodies from non-human species whose protein sequences have been modified to increase their similarity to antibody variants produced naturally in humans. I certainly hope that the positive outcomes for many people who have taken this drug will see many more and maybe even a possibility for a maintenance program. I just don't know of any at this time.

The developers for Keytruda limited the study to two years. There was a lot of competition between several drug makers for the success of such a drug. You can read more of this here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pembrolizumab
The reason that I am suggesting that you read Wikipedia about your drug is so that you can see why there was a 2-year limit.

I am very glad that this drug's targeted population has expanded into many cancers.
https://www.keytruda.com/

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Replies to "@dutchw- Good morning and Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Thank you for sharing your story. I..."

Good morning Miriam. Thank you for the valuable information. Wow, 23 years, that’s impressive. You undoubtedly are a fighter and an inspiration to us. I’m going to press my Dr to buck the current 2 year limit and try a maintenance protocol. We’ll see what happens. A PET scan in Dec. showed a small hot spot, 1/2 inch size, in my good lung and radiation cleaned it up. I am now cancer free and remaining on immunotherapy/Keytruda 400cc every 6 weeks until June. Keep up the good work.

I just want to take time and thank you for being here Merry !!! Whenever I start feeling down about surviving or reoccurrence of my lung cancer I read your 23+ year survival story. It perks me up, gives me hope as I’m sure it does others on this site. At my age, if I make it 23 more years I’ll be 104 years old lol.. Thank you, your a God sent.