advice treatment

Hello Lisa,

I am not sure, but may be one of the few on this site that is enrolled in the Polynoma (seviprotimut-L) Vaccine trial. 

I was diagnosed in September 2014, stage 3a with only my sentinal positive for Melanoma.  At the time my options were to begin Interferon or "watch and wait".  My oncologist in Boise recommended this particular trial as it was new and entering a phase 3b stage.  Note, I understood that "vaccine's" were not in vogue and this was truly a leap of faith, but my staging of "3x" offered very little in the form of trials or new treatment.

The trial is a 50/50 vs Placebo and my opinion was that anything was better than a Interferon strategy and I really wanted to take some form of action.  

Fast forward to today, I have encounterred very little side effects outside of some injection swelling and my stomach lymph nodes were enlarged initially (hint that I may have actually received the active drug/vaccine as it will cause this response).

I want to be very careful to not portray my situation as anything more than another data point as I have very little exposure to the trial outside of my location.  However, by definition a phase 3b trial suggests some historical postive data as the costs are generally prohibitive to continue down a path without some level of assurance. Additionally, I know that the trial has been granted an accelerated status with the FDA and that new participants are on hold awaiting some data compilation from the other study sites – not trying to infer anything in my last statement, but my site has witnessed some positive results.  

I am very pleased with my decision as I am now at 2 years with clean scans.  My last injection for the study is scheduled for January 2017 and at that time my active trial will come to a close.  I will have continuing scans every 6 months and am happy to keep you updated as the process continues.

Hello Lisa,

I am not sure, but may be one of the few on this site that is enrolled in the Polynoma (seviprotimut-L) Vaccine trial. 

I was diagnosed in September 2014, stage 3a with only my sentinal positive for Melanoma.  At the time my options were to begin Interferon or "watch and wait".  My oncologist in Boise recommended this particular trial as it was new and entering a phase 3b stage.  Note, I understood that "vaccine's" were not in vogue and this was truly a leap of faith, but my staging of "3x" offered very little in the form of trials or new treatment.

The trial is a 50/50 vs Placebo and my opinion was that anything was better than a Interferon strategy and I really wanted to take some form of action.  

Fast forward to today, I have encounterred very little side effects outside of some injection swelling and my stomach lymph nodes were enlarged initially (hint that I may have actually received the active drug/vaccine as it will cause this response).

I want to be very careful to not portray my situation as anything more than another data point as I have very little exposure to the trial outside of my location.  However, by definition a phase 3b trial suggests some historical postive data as the costs are generally prohibitive to continue down a path without some level of assurance. Additionally, I know that the trial has been granted an accelerated status with the FDA and that new participants are on hold awaiting some data compilation from the other study sites – not trying to infer anything in my last statement, but my site has witnessed some positive results.  

I am very pleased with my decision as I am now at 2 years with clean scans.  My last injection for the study is scheduled for January 2017 and at that time my active trial will come to a close.  I will have continuing scans every 6 months and am happy to keep you updated as the process continues.

Hello Lisa,

I am not sure, but may be one of the few on this site that is enrolled in the Polynoma (seviprotimut-L) Vaccine trial. 

I was diagnosed in September 2014, stage 3a with only my sentinal positive for Melanoma.  At the time my options were to begin Interferon or "watch and wait".  My oncologist in Boise recommended this particular trial as it was new and entering a phase 3b stage.  Note, I understood that "vaccine's" were not in vogue and this was truly a leap of faith, but my staging of "3x" offered very little in the form of trials or new treatment.

The trial is a 50/50 vs Placebo and my opinion was that anything was better than a Interferon strategy and I really wanted to take some form of action.  

Fast forward to today, I have encounterred very little side effects outside of some injection swelling and my stomach lymph nodes were enlarged initially (hint that I may have actually received the active drug/vaccine as it will cause this response).

I want to be very careful to not portray my situation as anything more than another data point as I have very little exposure to the trial outside of my location.  However, by definition a phase 3b trial suggests some historical postive data as the costs are generally prohibitive to continue down a path without some level of assurance. Additionally, I know that the trial has been granted an accelerated status with the FDA and that new participants are on hold awaiting some data compilation from the other study sites – not trying to infer anything in my last statement, but my site has witnessed some positive results.  

I am very pleased with my decision as I am now at 2 years with clean scans.  My last injection for the study is scheduled for January 2017 and at that time my active trial will come to a close.  I will have continuing scans every 6 months and am happy to keep you updated as the process continues.