IL2 showed little positive result, doc wants to start Yervoy-Questions

Hi Kelly,

I think that sounds like good news.  I have heard that Yervoy after IL2 is a good treatment plan – they both boost the immune system and the IL2 is the jump start!!   Yervoy takes a little longer to show up, but I think it sounds encouraging 🙂

IL2 did not work for Jeff.  He's now on Zelboraf (which is working).  He had a pretty big scare with progression of liver mets.  I sure hope your brother does well on Yervoy.  I am praying for you and wishing you the very best.

Take care.

Bridgette (Jeff's Mom)

Hi Kelly,

I think that sounds like good news.  I have heard that Yervoy after IL2 is a good treatment plan – they both boost the immune system and the IL2 is the jump start!!   Yervoy takes a little longer to show up, but I think it sounds encouraging 🙂

IL2 did not work for Jeff.  He's now on Zelboraf (which is working).  He had a pretty big scare with progression of liver mets.  I sure hope your brother does well on Yervoy.  I am praying for you and wishing you the very best.

Take care.

Bridgette (Jeff's Mom)

Hi Kelly,

I think that sounds like good news.  I have heard that Yervoy after IL2 is a good treatment plan – they both boost the immune system and the IL2 is the jump start!!   Yervoy takes a little longer to show up, but I think it sounds encouraging 🙂

IL2 did not work for Jeff.  He's now on Zelboraf (which is working).  He had a pretty big scare with progression of liver mets.  I sure hope your brother does well on Yervoy.  I am praying for you and wishing you the very best.

Take care.

Bridgette (Jeff's Mom)

CancerGuide: Classic High Dose Interleukin-2

http://cancerguide.org/rcc_il2hd.html

Re-Treatment and Follow-Up: You will typically be scanned about a month after finishing treatment. If you have stable or responding disease, you're likely to be offered a second course of treatment usually 6-12 weeks after finishing the first course. If the tumors are growing, this indicates the treatment isn't working, and another course isn't offered.
 

• Patients with a complete response after any course get one additional course.
• Patients with stable disease after the first course get one additional course, but no more, unless they have significant shrinkage with the second course.
• Patients with a partial response are offered additional courses of treatment as long as their tumors keep shrinking.
• In practice, more than three courses is very rare.
• These rules are always subject to physician judgment and patient preference.

**************************************

My Oncologist has been working with IL-2 since the early 1980's.  (It was approved for melanoma in the late 1990's.  He knows how to handle it and its problems.

Less than 25% growth is considered stable for starting the second round.  It certainly sounds like your brother qualifies for at least Round #2 (Weeks 3 & 4) of Il-2.  My innumerable lung and liver tumors stayed stable for 20 months.  The liver tumors never have started growing again (hopefully dead!).  That delay in growth allowed me to get to the point that there were other things to try.  I have been stable for 37 months again on my present c-kit mutation targeted treatment.

CancerGuide: Classic High Dose Interleukin-2

http://cancerguide.org/rcc_il2hd.html

Re-Treatment and Follow-Up: You will typically be scanned about a month after finishing treatment. If you have stable or responding disease, you're likely to be offered a second course of treatment usually 6-12 weeks after finishing the first course. If the tumors are growing, this indicates the treatment isn't working, and another course isn't offered.
 

• Patients with a complete response after any course get one additional course.
• Patients with stable disease after the first course get one additional course, but no more, unless they have significant shrinkage with the second course.
• Patients with a partial response are offered additional courses of treatment as long as their tumors keep shrinking.
• In practice, more than three courses is very rare.
• These rules are always subject to physician judgment and patient preference.

**************************************

My Oncologist has been working with IL-2 since the early 1980's.  (It was approved for melanoma in the late 1990's.  He knows how to handle it and its problems.

Less than 25% growth is considered stable for starting the second round.  It certainly sounds like your brother qualifies for at least Round #2 (Weeks 3 & 4) of Il-2.  My innumerable lung and liver tumors stayed stable for 20 months.  The liver tumors never have started growing again (hopefully dead!).  That delay in growth allowed me to get to the point that there were other things to try.  I have been stable for 37 months again on my present c-kit mutation targeted treatment.

CancerGuide: Classic High Dose Interleukin-2

http://cancerguide.org/rcc_il2hd.html

Re-Treatment and Follow-Up: You will typically be scanned about a month after finishing treatment. If you have stable or responding disease, you're likely to be offered a second course of treatment usually 6-12 weeks after finishing the first course. If the tumors are growing, this indicates the treatment isn't working, and another course isn't offered.
 

• Patients with a complete response after any course get one additional course.
• Patients with stable disease after the first course get one additional course, but no more, unless they have significant shrinkage with the second course.
• Patients with a partial response are offered additional courses of treatment as long as their tumors keep shrinking.
• In practice, more than three courses is very rare.
• These rules are always subject to physician judgment and patient preference.

**************************************

My Oncologist has been working with IL-2 since the early 1980's.  (It was approved for melanoma in the late 1990's.  He knows how to handle it and its problems.

Less than 25% growth is considered stable for starting the second round.  It certainly sounds like your brother qualifies for at least Round #2 (Weeks 3 & 4) of Il-2.  My innumerable lung and liver tumors stayed stable for 20 months.  The liver tumors never have started growing again (hopefully dead!).  That delay in growth allowed me to get to the point that there were other things to try.  I have been stable for 37 months again on my present c-kit mutation targeted treatment.