Braf Negative

Hey Don,

About half of melanoma patients are BRAF negative and the other half are BRAF positive.  The only down side of being BRAF negative is the fact that BRAF inhibitors (a group of treatment medications that are called 'targeted therapy' and are given along with MEK inhibitors) do not work for BRAF negative patients and therefore are not a treatment option.  However, immunotherapy – including ipi/nivo (the Opdivo and Yervoy combo) – is equally effective in both BRAF negative and BRAF positive patients.  

I don't see that being BRAF negative would affect any of your wife's current treatment plans.  Hope this helps.  Celeste

I may have shared this with you already…but if you scroll down to the 'immunotherapy' section as well as the 'targeted therapy' section of this primer…it may help explain:  https://chaoticallypreciselifeloveandmelanoma.blogspot.com/2017/08/melanoma-intel-primer-for-current.html

Here is an older, but still factual post that explains BRAF status, if you are interested:  https://chaoticallypreciselifeloveandmelanoma.blogspot.com/2014/02/braf-inhibitors-for-melanoma-dabrafenib.html  

celeste

I am BRAF negative and the ipi/nivo combo worked great for me. 7 tumors in my lungs gone in 15 months.

My melanoma is BRAF negative.  Three years ago I had melanoma in several bones and walking was very painful.  After Yervoy and Opdivo immunotherapy, my bone cancer is gone.  After my first infusion of Yervoy and Opdivo, I had very bad diarrhea and lost too much weight.  My oncologist postponed my second infusion of Yervoy for 9 weeks, while I regained weight.