Nivolumab (Opdivo) from BMS has just been approved for Melanoma

sblairc said:

Big news for many Kidney cancer patients, even though Melonoma

I'll admit, I cried a little. This is huge. 

What a victory! So many will be helped. I was lucky to have been given the chance to prove it's effectiveness in trial. It is going to help many people.

every one is happy so congratulations, I don't know about Nivolumab, could someone please tell me about it? and is it now approved only in US or can we have access to it all over the world?

Phase 3 BMS PD-1 (nivolumab) (Opdivo) vs Affinitor Everolimus has started. Correct me if I'm wrong. Once preliminary data comes in and if it's very positive in the favor of PD-1, BMS could apply to the FDA for RCC approval, because the drug has breakthrough status. That's what they did for melanoma. I think that is how it's going to happen.

NanoSecond said:

FDA Approval

FDA approval applies to the USA only. 

However, Nivolumab has already been approved (I believe for RCC no less) in Japan.  I am not aware of anywhere else.

..and what I found to be amazing was just how easy it was to take. Once I saw my doctor and she decided the days infusion was a go, they would make it up right there in the sink. It would take 2-3 hours to brew, and an hour to be dripped into my plumbing. Only once did I think  I might vomit. But that could have been anything. So it accounted for one infusion every three weeks. Unfortunately, once I kissed a cop down on 34th and vine, he broke my little bottle of health potion #9.

I remember being a bit afraid. At that point, I had had my nephrectomy but no other treatments. Only  a few of us had recieved nivolumab, and how we tolerated it was to be seen. I had been on 10mg/kg of body weight. That was the highest dose available. The lowest dose for some may have been as low as .5mg/kg body weight. There were no issues what so ever. Maybe a little fatigue. It was hard to determine. Certainly no big deal. I am sure that I will need some additional treatments of something someday soon. If and when that day comes, I pray that I can benefit from nivolumab again. I love to imagine that I have a long natural life to live. Being treated for metastatic kidney cancer will be no problem at all. NED would be ideal. But no longer necessary.