Very good news from CheckMate 214 study

lobbyist0724

Very good news from the CheckMate-214 clinical trial.

https://news.bms.com/pre...combination-yervoy-stop

Manufred

Checkmate 214

Very pleased to see this press release.  I have been on the trial since July 2015, and have been disease-free for about 18 months now. 

I am still continuing the treatment (fortnightly nivolumab) and will be interested to see what they now recommended for me.  While it would be nice to stop altogether, I am still uncertain about how free from disease I really am.  I have come to appreciate that radiology alone is not an absolute diagnostic tool for cancer.

I do hope that the combination of Nivo and Ipi will result in good outcomes for many people who until now have not had access to it.  I know it won't work for everyone but it will for quite a few.  That should take the edge of the otherwise dismal prognosis of 12% 5-year survival rate for mRCC.

Bellafelice

Question for Manufred

Thank you so very much for your post on the Checkmate usage. Can you please tell me about any possible side effects you had (if any). I know everyone is different in terms of drugs and SEs but as Checkmate is the next option for my hubby was just wondering about it.

Thank you!

Manufred

Nivo - Ipi Side Effects

There is a wide range of possible side effects, all of which are listed in the link given by Lobbyist 0724 - quite scary reading but they have to give full disclosure.

My own expereince was much easier.  Firstly I developed a skin rash within days of starting (lichenoid eruptions) that I still have to this day.  Mostly on my chest, back, legs and upper arms - they come and go.  It does not worry me much but is a bit itchy at times.  I treat it with a steroidal cream (Betamethasone) and inititally also took an antihistamine (phenurgen) but that made me sleepy so I stopped.

The drugs also attacked my Thyroid, whch I believe is not uncommon with Ipi/Nivo.  Before long my thyoid stopped working altogether so I am now taking daily thyroxine tablets. Again, no real bother and my Thyroid Function blood results are all stable and satisfactory.

I have had none of the other common side effects including respiratory and intestinal, so I consider myself very lucky to now live a totally normal life, able to eat and drink anything I want and to work or play as I like.

I was 60 when first diagnosed with a kidney tumour (removed by radical nephrectomy) and 63 when the mRCC showed up and I started on Checkmate 214.  Now I am almost 66 and semi-retired.

I hope all goes well for hubby and you.  Keep us informed, eh.

algee3

More On Ipi-Nivo Side Effects

I was in the Checkmate 214 trial from October 2014 to October 2015. While I ended up having to stop because of side effects, on balance I consider the treatment a great benefit.

For about ten months, I had no side effects to speak of other than a thyroid hormone deficiency corrected by a daily pill and some annoying itchiness that lasted a few weeks in the early phase of the trial, when you receive both ipi and nivo. The itchiness went away soon after the ipi stopped, which is at 12 weeks. But about ten months into the trial, the drug began attacking healthy tissues along with the cancer. This caused muscle weakness and joint pain. I used a cane for a short time and often needed help getting out of chairs. (Beofre all this I was a jogger and occasional hiker in my mid-60s.) Raising my arms over my head became a chore. I was taken out of the trial and given Prednisone, which reversed the vast majority of these symptoms in a matter of days. Unfortunately, I was left with some residual pain and weakness that required physical therapy and continuatin of Prednisone until just last month. To put these residual effects in perspective, while walking can get uncomfortable, especially up hills and steps, I have traveled from my home in the US to Europe three times during this period for sightseeing trips that involved walking about in cities and countryside.

Why do I consider the trial beneficial despite the side effects? I had stable disease while in the trial--not progression, not shrinkage. And in the two years since I stopped taking nivo, it has still kept my tumors growimg so slowly that I haven't needed another cancer treatment. Essentially, I am only a bit worse off now than I was three years ago when I first started the trial. I  may have to restart treatment soon, but my tumors have been pretty lazy for three years, and I have ipi/nivo to thank for it.

Bellafelice, if your husband ends up taking ipi/nivo, I wish him all the best.

 

 

Bellafelice

Checkmate 214 Side effects comments

Dear Algee3 and Manufred-Thank you both so very much for all of your most encouraging information. After reading all of the SEs they have to mention, it of course is scary. However both of you have put my mind at ease. Bob is still on Votrient after these past 6 months (his first treatment post nephrectomy). The RCC specialist suggested the Checkmate 214 when the Votrient stops working. He also mentioned the IL2 but I dont think hubby wants to go there. 

I cant thank you both enough-my mind is much more at ease. You both gathered up more good Karma!! Big cyber hugs