Revisiting the Results and Looking Ahead

Welcome back to the next Thriving Not Just Surviving blog post. I would like to use this post to further review and discuss the results of the last CT scan.

It’s still sometimes difficult to realize how well everything is going. As I explained last week, no one could have predicted this degree of tumor shrinkage at such an early stage in the treatment plan.  

The most amazing part of the test results showed that only a single tumor in my right lung remained. While this is certainly great news, it’s worth noting that millions of cancer cells need to be present in order to be viewed in a CT scan. Therefore, there is a chance that there are small amounts of cancer still present in these “clean” areas. However, given the rate of tumor shrinkage, it is also likely that the remaining hidden cancer cells will eventually be eliminated over the coming weeks and months.

Despite the smashing success of many immunotherapy drugs, one of the primary critiques against using them is the lack of understanding regarding the massive discrepancies among patients’ responses. Some patients, like myself, experience aggressive responses from the immune system and see significant shrinkage quickly. Others experience a halt in cancer growth and spread, but do not see the elimination of cancer. While other patients see no positive response, despite their cancer exhibiting the specific tumor markers that make them eligible for a specific immunotherapy drug. As more immunotherapy drugs are developed it is everyone’s hope that researchers create methodologies that are much more effective in determining which patients will experience positive results with these types of treatments.

I am grateful and blessed that I am a patient that experiences positive outcomes with immunotherapy. However, my doctor informed me that there is no way to predict the duration of the positive response. The duration could be anywhere from a few months to forever. If the duration is short, the plan is to add an additional immunotherapy drug to my current treatment plan. My doctor is fairly confident that other immunotherapy drugs should be effective, based on my response with Keytruda.

There is a lot to be excited about in the coming years regarding lung cancer treatment. The overnight success of Keytruda and many other immunotherapy drugs have caught the attention of the medical industry. The next generation of immunotherapy drugs are already in the late phases of clinical trials, many of which are accessible at Siteman Cancer Center. Even more significantly, clinical trials are underway in Buffalo New York for a lung cancer vaccine which was imported from Cuba. There is a long road ahead in getting this this treatment approved, but the results experienced in Cuba show that it might be possible to turn stage four lung cancer from a terminal illness to a chronic illness.

I have the next round of treatment on Thursday, August 24 and I expect to have the next blog post published by Sunday, August 27.