Immunotherapy

clyons54
clyons54 Member Posts: 3
in Esophageal Cancer #1

My husband was diagnosed in January 2013 with Stage III Squamous Cell.  He was 36 when diagnosed - active, heathly, non-smoker, lean and no family history.  He did chemo/radiation for 6 weeks then surgery.  He had clear scans until December 2014 when a tumor came back at the interesection site and a lymph node.  He went through the same treatment of chemo and radiation.  His initial scan looked good but his next scan showed the cells had returned along with spots on his lungs.  We consulted with our local team, our team at Duke and with Sloan Kettering.  It was decieded to start immunotherpay,off-label.

 

My husband started Opdivo (Bristoll-Meyers) in October.  He has tolerated the treatment very well (as he did with chemo prior).  We have postponed having scans done until now due to the fact that immunotherapy has been proven to take longer to see effects.  His scan is scheduled for next week and we are obviously nervous. 

 

I am wondering if anyone has experience with immunotherapy? We definitely feel like pioneers and would love to hear from others who may have somethingto share.

 

Best,

Colleen

 

 

Comments

  • Deathorglory
    Deathorglory Member Posts: 364 Member
    #2
    Wishing You Guys Well

    Hello,

     

    I had a somewhat similar/somewhat different situation.  I was stage III, did fine then had a stage IV recurrence to my lung.  I was adenocarcinoma, not squamous cell, though.  I didn't do immunotherapy.  Either it wasn't an option at the time or I wasn't a candidate, I don't know.  I just want to offer you an example of someone who has been near where you are and has had successful treatment.  I'm currently testing clean 4+ years after been given a 7-8 month prognosis.  The one thing you are doing that I personally believe to be of utmost importance is that you are dealing with super high quality facilities.  You are not in a situation where your local hospital is likely to be a good bet.  You are maximizing your chances by dealing with top of the line folks.

     

    Wishing you guys well,

     

    Ed

  • Artdog
    Artdog Member Posts: 3
    #3
    Deathorglory said:

    Wishing You Guys Well

    Hello,

     

    I had a somewhat similar/somewhat different situation.  I was stage III, did fine then had a stage IV recurrence to my lung.  I was adenocarcinoma, not squamous cell, though.  I didn't do immunotherapy.  Either it wasn't an option at the time or I wasn't a candidate, I don't know.  I just want to offer you an example of someone who has been near where you are and has had successful treatment.  I'm currently testing clean 4+ years after been given a 7-8 month prognosis.  The one thing you are doing that I personally believe to be of utmost importance is that you are dealing with super high quality facilities.  You are not in a situation where your local hospital is likely to be a good bet.  You are maximizing your chances by dealing with top of the line folks.

     

    Wishing you guys well,

     

    Ed

    Ed may I ask what treatment

    Ed may I ask what treatment you had for your recurrence on lung

     

  • Deathorglory
    Deathorglory Member Posts: 364 Member
    #4
    Artdog said:

    Ed may I ask what treatment

    Ed may I ask what treatment you had for your recurrence on lung

     

    Hello

    Hello,

     

    The treatment was solely chemo--I wasn't a candidate for surgery or radiation b/c of stage IV status.  The primary chemo was Folfox (12 biweekly rounds) and weekly Herceptin b/c I was HER 2/NEU positive and Herceptin had just been approved for metastatic EC a couple of months before my diagnosis.  I completed all 12 rounds of the Folfox, which is uncommon b/c it is a particularly brutal chemo.  I also am still receiving weekly Herceptin.  

     

    Hope that's useful,

     

    Ed

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