› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Stage IV–Need suggestions for further treatment
- This topic has 12 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 9 months ago by
Peabody_58.
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- August 25, 2013 at 4:32 am
My dad has stage IV melanoma with involvement in the brain, liver, and lungs. In Nov. 2011, he received the first diagnosis of melanoma from a node in his belly button. It hadn't spread at that point, but a scan in the summer of 2012 revealed melanoma in one lymph node. The nodes in that area were all removed, but in September 2012, a scan showed that the cancer had become metastatic and was in his liver, lungs, and brain. At first, he received Ippi treatments, which were ineffective. He then had a chemo cocktail of three agents, one of which was Avastin.
My dad has stage IV melanoma with involvement in the brain, liver, and lungs. In Nov. 2011, he received the first diagnosis of melanoma from a node in his belly button. It hadn't spread at that point, but a scan in the summer of 2012 revealed melanoma in one lymph node. The nodes in that area were all removed, but in September 2012, a scan showed that the cancer had become metastatic and was in his liver, lungs, and brain. At first, he received Ippi treatments, which were ineffective. He then had a chemo cocktail of three agents, one of which was Avastin. That was only moderately effective. He also had gamma knife surgery and radiation for his brain tumors. In May, he entered an anti PD1 clinical trial, but was just taken out of it after a scan revealed tumor growth in his lungs and brain. He is supposed to start more chemo treatment again, including an oral chemo that is supposedly more effective against brain tumors. Does anyone have any suggestions of some other treatments we could try? We are open to trying anything that might help. Thanks!
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- August 25, 2013 at 6:14 am
Hi Kerstin
You dont mention whether your Dad's tumours have been tested for the BRAF mutation yet. I would expect this to have been done by now – if not, you should push to have it done.
The BRAF drugs that are now approved appear to show some activity with brain mets both anedotally and in limited clinical trials.
John
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- August 25, 2013 at 6:14 am
Hi Kerstin
You dont mention whether your Dad's tumours have been tested for the BRAF mutation yet. I would expect this to have been done by now – if not, you should push to have it done.
The BRAF drugs that are now approved appear to show some activity with brain mets both anedotally and in limited clinical trials.
John
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- August 25, 2013 at 6:14 am
Hi Kerstin
You dont mention whether your Dad's tumours have been tested for the BRAF mutation yet. I would expect this to have been done by now – if not, you should push to have it done.
The BRAF drugs that are now approved appear to show some activity with brain mets both anedotally and in limited clinical trials.
John
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- August 25, 2013 at 11:06 am
Is he elgible for ACT/TIL (NIH, MDA, ) ?
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- August 25, 2013 at 11:06 am
Is he elgible for ACT/TIL (NIH, MDA, ) ?
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- August 25, 2013 at 11:06 am
Is he elgible for ACT/TIL (NIH, MDA, ) ?
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- August 25, 2013 at 2:59 pm
He has been tested and he is BRAF negative. Thanks for the suggestion. We will check it out! -
- August 25, 2013 at 7:43 pm
Pilot Ipilimumab in Stage IV Melanoma Receiving Palliative Radiation Therapy
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT01449279This may be a useful strategy. I would also look at the PD-1 / Ipi combintation trials – there is one of these at Georgetown (Atkins) but there may be others around the country.There is always adoptive cell therapy (ACT), the subject of much debate here. It is at least worth a phone call. -
- August 25, 2013 at 7:43 pm
Pilot Ipilimumab in Stage IV Melanoma Receiving Palliative Radiation Therapy
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT01449279This may be a useful strategy. I would also look at the PD-1 / Ipi combintation trials – there is one of these at Georgetown (Atkins) but there may be others around the country.There is always adoptive cell therapy (ACT), the subject of much debate here. It is at least worth a phone call. -
- August 25, 2013 at 7:43 pm
Pilot Ipilimumab in Stage IV Melanoma Receiving Palliative Radiation Therapy
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT01449279This may be a useful strategy. I would also look at the PD-1 / Ipi combintation trials – there is one of these at Georgetown (Atkins) but there may be others around the country.There is always adoptive cell therapy (ACT), the subject of much debate here. It is at least worth a phone call. -
- August 25, 2013 at 2:59 pm
He has been tested and he is BRAF negative. Thanks for the suggestion. We will check it out! -
- August 25, 2013 at 2:59 pm
He has been tested and he is BRAF negative. Thanks for the suggestion. We will check it out!
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