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It is my understanding from my oncologist that the two-year timeframe with Keytruda is based on the length of the original trial which was two years. Some insurance companies will not pay for treatment based on the length of the original trial while others continue to pay based on patient response.
Also, Keytruda itself will not "kill" cancer; it eliminates the inhibitors that are preventing the immune system from doing its job and removing the cancer cells. If they are saying Keytruda isn't working they are probably saying the immune system still isn't responding the way it is supposed to. Keytruda will only be effective on those cells that are checkpoint inhibitor positive which, it sounds like, may only be a portion of his whole situation.
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Thank you. He is going to have pinpoint radiation and just had his gallbladder removed, but is still very sick. I worry that if he does not get these stomach issues worked out he will not be strong enough to tolerate anything. Going back for post surgical this week so I may have to push for something else to be done. I guess the reason we don't understand all of this is that he was told it is slow growing?? I would hate to see what aggressive looks like. I just never did understand why they took him off of it for 6 weeks until he started radioisotopes which they say is not working either. After those 6 weeks he had a new tumor, the others had gotten larger and now has spots on his liver.