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Drug Doubles Survival Time - Saltikva
Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: Jan 5 8:54am | Replies (33)Comment receiving replies
@layla97 , can you be more specific about your sister's MDs and their reluctance/refusal to consider Saltikva? Please don't reveal anything personal about your sister's situation, but I'd be curious to know what their concerns were. As I posted above, I'm doing my regular consult with my oncologist this afternoon, and I was going to ask him about Saltikva. I don't think I'm "there" yet, as my CA 19-9 is in normal range and my CT scans show that my main tumor has shrunk, so we're still getting good results with my Folfiri regimen. But having that info could help me frame better questions and get more info. Thanks in advance for anything you can provide.
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She is having good results from Folfirinox so far after 6 infusions. Before her 5th infusion I sat in with her video call to her oncologist at MSK. I mentioned Saltikva and he said he didn't feel comfortable with giving a "live" substance to an immunocompromised patient (not his exact words), and quickly changed to subject. I am not a physician, but a Nurse Practitioner for over 35 years , now retired. I was sure I read this was "attenuated" in the study, but did not want to interrupt my sister's visit. I went back that evening to re-read the word "attenuated" and I was correct. I also wrote back to Salspera to confirm. They told me I was correct --- the Salmonella Il-2 drug is attenuated (meaning weakened to the point of being unable to cause disease). I sent the letter to her MSK Onco and he never replied. I left out the names of the physicians.
Since my cousin is a surgeon at Mayo, he said it certainly was reasonable to contact the oncologist at Mayo (where she went for second opinion). he replied the very next day with this:
Reviewed the abstract for this Saltikva. Some of the mechanism described is a little dubious, plus strange to report only partial data from the phase II and the wording was bit sales pitchy. Also there was no benefit in the arm that used a different chemo-regimen - why would that be??. I am uncertain if this would at all beneficial. If this is something they would let her be a part of without having to pay out of pocket and would not change her current chemotherapy regimen than it would be up to her to make this decision, but the data as it stands currently would not support that this is beneficial.
Ultimately the decision is up to you and your treating oncologist. We would encourage you to ask Dr. ------ for his input if you still need more information. Dr. ---- did reach out to Dr. ------ to ask about it based on your message. I do believe he and Dr. ----- had some of the same questions and concerns.
We know these are difficult decisions and you are only hoping to find something to offer improvement in her quality and quantity of life. We wish you the best in your search.