Potential effective cancer drug (melanoma)

[FLPanhandle]

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Young-Mothers-Life-Saved-by-New-Melanoma-Treatment-120412679.html

Xiomara Goicochea was eight months pregnant when she was diagnosed with malignant melanoma.
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By the time her daughter was four months old, her melanoma was stage 4. Her oncologist, Dr. Jose Lutzky, showed us her scan filled with black dots where the tumors were growing: “skin, soft tissue, the liver, the bones", he recalled, "the lungs were involved. The median survival for a patient like this is six months.”

At the time, Mt. Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center was the only site in South Florida testing an experimental treatment. The FDA recently approved Yervoy. Delivered in four infusions, three weeks apart, it enables a patient's own immune cells to fight the cancer. Xiomara says she felt “no pain, no side effects. I didn't have any type of reaction.” After two treatments, she started to see her tumors literally shrink before her eyes.

Dr. Lutzky explains that among the study participants “about 30 percent benefitted from the treatment in that they had either a complete response, a partial shrinkage of the tumor, or they had stabilization of disease. That is, the tumor stopped growing.” Less than five percent of the patients responded like Xiomara.

Five years later, there is no trace of melanoma anywhere.

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I'm always skeptical about the cancer cure of the day stories, but this one has been in trials for a long time and the folks are Mt. Sinai have a good bit of data now. Not a great success rate, but even a 30% benefit is better than most treatments.

Melanoma can be common down here in Florida after spending your life out in the sun everyday. I'm sort of resigned to getting it one day after a lifetime of boating.

[xchrom]

1. Wow. I hope this works. Nt

[no_hypocrisy]

2. I visit my dermatologist twice a year for a full body examination to monitor

all marks. She diagnosed a Stage I malignant melanoma three years ago and it was successfully removed with no further complications. I have been eternally grateful to her.

[FLPanhandle]

3. Wow. Scary but glad you both caught it early

Great to have a doctor that is thorough.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. The worst part is my spot was innocuous-looking.

Small caramel/light-brown freckle intersecting with a dark-brown freckle. No bleeding, no irregular borders, black, raised, etc. (the classic symptoms).

Everyone should visit a dermatologist as part of their healthcare at least once a year.

Thanks for your support.

[FLPanhandle]

5. My downfall is that I don't visit doctors

I have great health insurance so it wouldn't cost me a dime.

Maybe I have a typical male attitude, but unless an arm is falling off, I figure any aliment will get better in time. Except for emergency room visits for stitches, I haven't been to a doctor in 20 years.

That's not a good attitude for a 50 year old guy who has spent his lifetime in the sun to have, but I know myself.

For me, I need the miracle cures because it'll be too late for easy fixes.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. I generally see a naturopath. However, my situation started with

visiting the dermatologist to have an ugly bump shaved off my face. It resembled a wart. And while I was there, she asked if I would like to have a global examination. I'm fair-skinned, have fair hair, and had one third-degree sunburn when I was two and two second degree sunburns when I was five and six. I figured, you never know . . . and I told you the rest.

I recommend going to a doctor to prevent having to go to a doctor for something serious in the future.