Stage 3A, treatment options

Hi Anon, can I call you Anon 3A just incase some other anon answer your post it helps me to keep the anon's straight. You are not going to find to many people that are 3a and have had Pd-1 drugs since the trial that led to Nivolumab approval didn't include 3a, they have now allowed all stage 3 to get access so there might be some new patients that have just got started on treatment but no one that has been on treatment for long. On the other hand the trial that just reported on Pembro(Keytruda) for adjuvant patients did include 80, 3a patients out of the 500 or so patients in the pembro arm of the trial. So there is some data from that trial and I will include a link to some of it. I was 3A back in 2012 and progressed about 15 months later to lung and brain mets. I did Interferon back in the day (lovely stuff) and progressed. The interesting part of the data today is pushing off recurrence or recurrence free survival data. My thinking on the topic is buying time and stats. Treatment for adjuvant melanoma show that on average people are buying time accourding to the stats and maybe won't have a recurrence but data is still very young for long term success and the trials are on going and still collecting data. Down side is getting side effects called IRAE's and having maybe for life side effects that require steroids. Up side no progression to major organs or brain and long term survival. My personal thoughts on the old standard of watching and scanning in stage 3 should be replaced by Immunotherapy or for those with Braf+ Mutation targeted therapy for a year then scanning and close follow up. Here are two links, one about the trial results for Pd-1 in adjuvant and a second possible side effects and % of how often people develop them. Best Wishes!!!Ed https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1802357              https://www.uptodate.com/contents/toxicities-associated-with-checkpoint-inhibitor-immunotherapy

I was staged 3a July of 2017 and almost immediately went on Nivolumab.  It was not a trial, but I think it was because of the location, on the back of my scalp, that I was approved so quickly.

For me, it was a no brainer, no pun intended.  I read about the side effect possibilities and the statistics on long term survival with the size and location of my tumor, and never thought twice after the insurance had approved it.  I've been fairly lucky with side effects, with only sensitive skin, occasional rash, and gas bloating.