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Melanoma Stage 3b
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Melanoma Stage 3b

› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Melanoma Stage 3b

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    • July 23, 2019 at 1:59 am
    Ellenb626
    Participant
      I am new to this website. I read it a few times before posting my info. so here goes. i went to the dermatologist in May 2019 and had a melanoma removed from my upper left arm. The pathology report came back said it was stage 2b. In June, I had surgery- wide excision to remove the melanoma and a sentinel node biopsy. The first sentinel node was removed and it had 6mm of melanoma in it. I was sent for a PET scan and CT scan of my chest. I am NED. My melanoma then became 3b. Then the surgeon at MSK sent me to the oncologist who talked about the pros and cons of immunotherapy. At first, I was leaning towards immunotherapy. but now I am having seconds thoughts because of the side effects. I am on Synthroid and I am afraid that my whole endocrine system will get messed up. The onocologist said it would be one drug or two drugs but he didn’t say which ones, just every 4 weeks. Some of the really bad side effects scare me and my husband. I want to know if just using scans is sufficient monitoring and immunotherapy can be put off until something shows up,
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        • July 23, 2019 at 1:12 pm
        Suzana65
        Participant
          Hi Ellemb626,
          I’m new to this and not sure the best person to advise you but I’m in a similar situation. I’m 3a. Saw an oncologist in my area and she recommended just monitoring. Yesterday I saw Dr. Paul Champman a melanoma expect at Sloan Kettering and he was of the same opinion. I’m also very scared to leave it up to a chance but guess they know better. Good luck with you decision.

          • July 23, 2019 at 1:49 pm
          Bubbles
          Participant
            Here is a link that may interest you both: https://www.uptodate.com/contents/adjuvant-therapy-for-cutaneous-melanoma

            For Suzana – As I understand it you are Stage IIIa. That makes a difference. From the report above there is this: “In patients with stage IIIA disease, regardless of BRAF mutation status, the chance of disease recurrence is less than 20 percent, and therefore, observation should also be considered an option. This is particularly true for stage IIIA patients with sentinel lymph node tumor deposits <1 mm, where updated staging data suggest that this group has a five-year relapse-free survival rate of 91 percent."

            For Ellen - Given that even Stage IIIb melanoma patients have a good chance of remaining disease free, yes, close monitoring is a valid option for follow-up. However, we do know that adjuvant therapy increases that chance. Still, there are certainly significant side effects to consider with any medication, definitely with immunotherapy, and even more so if you have a pre-existing auto-immune disease. Still we have learned a great deal about immunotherapy since we ratties were first in trials of it back in 2010 and a bit before. One thing we now know is that folks who do have auto-immune diseases can tolerate the treatment and attain response albeit with very careful monitoring. Here are numerous reports: https://chaoticallypreciselifeloveandmelanoma.blogspot.com/search?q=autoimmune

            Here are a zillion reports on adjuvant therapy generally (including using targeted therapy) for melanoma peeps: https://chaoticallypreciselifeloveandmelanoma.blogspot.com/search?q=adjuvant

            Hope this helps. Celeste

              • July 23, 2019 at 9:09 pm
              Ellenb626
              Participant
                I am still leaning to scans only unless something comes up. I have cystic lymphangioma, a genetic, non cancerous malformation in my retroperitoneal cavity and The oncologist could not tell me how or if immunotherapy would effect it. It is too close to my aorta to be completely removed. I am seeing Dr. sShoustari at MSk.
                Last year after Valsartan was recalled , I tried three other blood pressure medicines with side effects and I am very Leary of drugs. Also there i no really strong statistics that state immunotherapy reduce the chance of a recurrence. I also need a quality of life.
                Thanks Suzan’s, Bubbles and Celeste.
                • July 23, 2019 at 9:13 pm
                Suzana65
                Participant
                  Thank you Celeste. This was helpful.
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