› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Combining Dabrafenib and Nivolumab
- This topic has 27 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 9 months ago by
ed williams.
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- July 9, 2015 at 9:42 pm
I have been on BRAF/MEK with mixed success. It has helped many things, but my liver has gotten worse. My Onc. Is VERY concerned that I dont have much time left and so she decided today to take me off the MEK and use a combo of Dabrafenib and Nivolumab. I go first thing tomorrow morning for my first infusion of Nivolumab. Has anyone else used these two together? Any info or thoughts appreciated.
Thank you,
Thandster
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- July 10, 2015 at 2:25 am
Is it the mel in your liver causing the problem? If so there is medicines one of which is called phase. The other someone on here posted months ago. Basically it is little pellets they place on or near the liver that help with liver tumors even some success with melanoma. Not the be all treatment but it might get you through this rough patch.
If you don't have liver tumors then it is probably the meds. Being on zelboraf about 10 weeks shot my liver numbers all high my doc was worried but my next blood work showed improvement. Took over a year being on the taf mek 8 weeks and then keytruda a long time before they returned to normal.
Being on the meds can be toxic to the liver. Nivo and keytruda haven't been too bad from what I've read. But combining the tafinlar with nivo can affect the liver. I almost did it on my own but I stuck with just keytruda instead. However hopefully the combo punch of both the braf inhibitor and nivo will do the trick for you.
Also green leafy things are supposed to help cleanse the liver. If you are like me and don't like salads there is a drink called kale blazer and another called green machine by a company called naked. Might help. I drink one a day.
Not sure what else I can say. Hang in there.
Best of luck.
Artie
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- July 10, 2015 at 2:25 am
Is it the mel in your liver causing the problem? If so there is medicines one of which is called phase. The other someone on here posted months ago. Basically it is little pellets they place on or near the liver that help with liver tumors even some success with melanoma. Not the be all treatment but it might get you through this rough patch.
If you don't have liver tumors then it is probably the meds. Being on zelboraf about 10 weeks shot my liver numbers all high my doc was worried but my next blood work showed improvement. Took over a year being on the taf mek 8 weeks and then keytruda a long time before they returned to normal.
Being on the meds can be toxic to the liver. Nivo and keytruda haven't been too bad from what I've read. But combining the tafinlar with nivo can affect the liver. I almost did it on my own but I stuck with just keytruda instead. However hopefully the combo punch of both the braf inhibitor and nivo will do the trick for you.
Also green leafy things are supposed to help cleanse the liver. If you are like me and don't like salads there is a drink called kale blazer and another called green machine by a company called naked. Might help. I drink one a day.
Not sure what else I can say. Hang in there.
Best of luck.
Artie
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- July 10, 2015 at 2:25 am
Is it the mel in your liver causing the problem? If so there is medicines one of which is called phase. The other someone on here posted months ago. Basically it is little pellets they place on or near the liver that help with liver tumors even some success with melanoma. Not the be all treatment but it might get you through this rough patch.
If you don't have liver tumors then it is probably the meds. Being on zelboraf about 10 weeks shot my liver numbers all high my doc was worried but my next blood work showed improvement. Took over a year being on the taf mek 8 weeks and then keytruda a long time before they returned to normal.
Being on the meds can be toxic to the liver. Nivo and keytruda haven't been too bad from what I've read. But combining the tafinlar with nivo can affect the liver. I almost did it on my own but I stuck with just keytruda instead. However hopefully the combo punch of both the braf inhibitor and nivo will do the trick for you.
Also green leafy things are supposed to help cleanse the liver. If you are like me and don't like salads there is a drink called kale blazer and another called green machine by a company called naked. Might help. I drink one a day.
Not sure what else I can say. Hang in there.
Best of luck.
Artie
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- July 10, 2015 at 11:44 am
Thank you for the info Artie. I'm not finding the medicine called Phase, but the other one (brachytherapy) looks interesting. I'll definitely talk to my oncologist about it when I see her this morning. I'm on my way for my first Nivo infusion and will meet with her before the infusion.
Your input is really appreciated.
Thandster
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- July 10, 2015 at 3:16 pm
I saw your post on mif and see you have liver mets. I imagine you feel crummy. So do I. Unfortunately we have to do the research ourselves because the docs tend to stick to what they know and that's it. At least that's been my experience so I have to push the docs in a nice way to get what I want.
You are right with your gut feeling you need more than what your doc is doing. Could that plan of braf and pd1 work. Given enough time it might. But in my opinion and from what I think you are thinking you need more.
That being said there is something called a liver embolization. Might help. I seem to remember the mother of a 20 something girl had a 12cm tumor in the liver. One of the things they did was that embolization thing. Last I heard she is dong great. I think this was chemoembolization.
There is also something called radioembolization. These are radioactive beeds they put in.
There is also radio frequency and micro ablation. Uses heat to get the cancer in the liver. On the flip side is cryo ablation to freeze the cancer cells. This is what I finally got done last week for a tumor in my spine.
Also something called alcohol ablation where they put it directly into the liver tumors.
Also something called intra arterial therapy. Where they use a catheter to get the treatment to the liver tumors.
Now you might want to avoid regular radiation beam therapy to the liver because it destroys the healthy liver cells in a big way.
If you find something you want to try I would not wait the 2 weeks to see your doc. Call their nurse every day and in a nice way be a pain. The squeaky wheel gets the greese. Something I had to learn with this stuff.
My cousins son fought his colal rectal cancer for 30 hard months. He almost beat it then it got him in the liver. One of the early signs his liver was not working right was the whites of his eyes turned yellow. So beware of that.
Best of luck to you and may God give you the wisdom to do his will and heal you of this disease and His glory shine in your heart.
Artie
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- July 11, 2015 at 1:47 am
Great advice, Artie! I had three tumors on my spine. One could not be completely removed. Before they actually operated on my spine to repair the damage, they did an emobolization. It cuts off most of the blood supply to the tumor. They couldn't remove all of the tumor but it has been stable since October of 2013 and did not show metabolic activity on a recent PET scan. Just wondering if this will give you some ideas, hope, and encouragement. By the way, my doctor didn't think of the embolization until just about the last minute! It was done on a Tuesday and surgery was on Thursday.
I wish you all the best!
Terrie
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- July 11, 2015 at 1:47 am
Great advice, Artie! I had three tumors on my spine. One could not be completely removed. Before they actually operated on my spine to repair the damage, they did an emobolization. It cuts off most of the blood supply to the tumor. They couldn't remove all of the tumor but it has been stable since October of 2013 and did not show metabolic activity on a recent PET scan. Just wondering if this will give you some ideas, hope, and encouragement. By the way, my doctor didn't think of the embolization until just about the last minute! It was done on a Tuesday and surgery was on Thursday.
I wish you all the best!
Terrie
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- July 11, 2015 at 1:47 am
Great advice, Artie! I had three tumors on my spine. One could not be completely removed. Before they actually operated on my spine to repair the damage, they did an emobolization. It cuts off most of the blood supply to the tumor. They couldn't remove all of the tumor but it has been stable since October of 2013 and did not show metabolic activity on a recent PET scan. Just wondering if this will give you some ideas, hope, and encouragement. By the way, my doctor didn't think of the embolization until just about the last minute! It was done on a Tuesday and surgery was on Thursday.
I wish you all the best!
Terrie
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- July 11, 2015 at 1:51 am
Also, I realize that you are talking about your liver, not spine. Just was hoping to help. Keytruda has worked for me. I feel that Yervoy was also working but had to stop due to pituitary problems. I've not taken Nivo. Any thoughts of an ipi/Nivo combination?
Terrie….again!
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- July 11, 2015 at 1:51 am
Also, I realize that you are talking about your liver, not spine. Just was hoping to help. Keytruda has worked for me. I feel that Yervoy was also working but had to stop due to pituitary problems. I've not taken Nivo. Any thoughts of an ipi/Nivo combination?
Terrie….again!
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- July 11, 2015 at 1:51 am
Also, I realize that you are talking about your liver, not spine. Just was hoping to help. Keytruda has worked for me. I feel that Yervoy was also working but had to stop due to pituitary problems. I've not taken Nivo. Any thoughts of an ipi/Nivo combination?
Terrie….again!
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- July 10, 2015 at 3:16 pm
I saw your post on mif and see you have liver mets. I imagine you feel crummy. So do I. Unfortunately we have to do the research ourselves because the docs tend to stick to what they know and that's it. At least that's been my experience so I have to push the docs in a nice way to get what I want.
You are right with your gut feeling you need more than what your doc is doing. Could that plan of braf and pd1 work. Given enough time it might. But in my opinion and from what I think you are thinking you need more.
That being said there is something called a liver embolization. Might help. I seem to remember the mother of a 20 something girl had a 12cm tumor in the liver. One of the things they did was that embolization thing. Last I heard she is dong great. I think this was chemoembolization.
There is also something called radioembolization. These are radioactive beeds they put in.
There is also radio frequency and micro ablation. Uses heat to get the cancer in the liver. On the flip side is cryo ablation to freeze the cancer cells. This is what I finally got done last week for a tumor in my spine.
Also something called alcohol ablation where they put it directly into the liver tumors.
Also something called intra arterial therapy. Where they use a catheter to get the treatment to the liver tumors.
Now you might want to avoid regular radiation beam therapy to the liver because it destroys the healthy liver cells in a big way.
If you find something you want to try I would not wait the 2 weeks to see your doc. Call their nurse every day and in a nice way be a pain. The squeaky wheel gets the greese. Something I had to learn with this stuff.
My cousins son fought his colal rectal cancer for 30 hard months. He almost beat it then it got him in the liver. One of the early signs his liver was not working right was the whites of his eyes turned yellow. So beware of that.
Best of luck to you and may God give you the wisdom to do his will and heal you of this disease and His glory shine in your heart.
Artie
-
- July 10, 2015 at 3:16 pm
I saw your post on mif and see you have liver mets. I imagine you feel crummy. So do I. Unfortunately we have to do the research ourselves because the docs tend to stick to what they know and that's it. At least that's been my experience so I have to push the docs in a nice way to get what I want.
You are right with your gut feeling you need more than what your doc is doing. Could that plan of braf and pd1 work. Given enough time it might. But in my opinion and from what I think you are thinking you need more.
That being said there is something called a liver embolization. Might help. I seem to remember the mother of a 20 something girl had a 12cm tumor in the liver. One of the things they did was that embolization thing. Last I heard she is dong great. I think this was chemoembolization.
There is also something called radioembolization. These are radioactive beeds they put in.
There is also radio frequency and micro ablation. Uses heat to get the cancer in the liver. On the flip side is cryo ablation to freeze the cancer cells. This is what I finally got done last week for a tumor in my spine.
Also something called alcohol ablation where they put it directly into the liver tumors.
Also something called intra arterial therapy. Where they use a catheter to get the treatment to the liver tumors.
Now you might want to avoid regular radiation beam therapy to the liver because it destroys the healthy liver cells in a big way.
If you find something you want to try I would not wait the 2 weeks to see your doc. Call their nurse every day and in a nice way be a pain. The squeaky wheel gets the greese. Something I had to learn with this stuff.
My cousins son fought his colal rectal cancer for 30 hard months. He almost beat it then it got him in the liver. One of the early signs his liver was not working right was the whites of his eyes turned yellow. So beware of that.
Best of luck to you and may God give you the wisdom to do his will and heal you of this disease and His glory shine in your heart.
Artie
-
- July 10, 2015 at 11:44 am
Thank you for the info Artie. I'm not finding the medicine called Phase, but the other one (brachytherapy) looks interesting. I'll definitely talk to my oncologist about it when I see her this morning. I'm on my way for my first Nivo infusion and will meet with her before the infusion.
Your input is really appreciated.
Thandster
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- July 10, 2015 at 11:44 am
Thank you for the info Artie. I'm not finding the medicine called Phase, but the other one (brachytherapy) looks interesting. I'll definitely talk to my oncologist about it when I see her this morning. I'm on my way for my first Nivo infusion and will meet with her before the infusion.
Your input is really appreciated.
Thandster
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- July 12, 2015 at 8:42 pm
My husband stopped taf and mek about a month ago, and started nivo. Within two weeks things were getting really bad, so he's started up the taf again and has his second nivolumab treatment tomorrow. His liver isn't the most worrisome part of his insides right now, but I'll keep coming back to this thred to follow up with you on how things are going.
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- July 12, 2015 at 8:42 pm
My husband stopped taf and mek about a month ago, and started nivo. Within two weeks things were getting really bad, so he's started up the taf again and has his second nivolumab treatment tomorrow. His liver isn't the most worrisome part of his insides right now, but I'll keep coming back to this thred to follow up with you on how things are going.
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- July 14, 2015 at 3:37 pm
Hi Kimgibler, my first thoughts about research articles is that there might not be any yet. With the tremendous results of combination therapy such as Ipi and Nivo, the Melanoma experts are wanting to find out what other combinations might work together or which combinations might have even better results. Many of the ASCO 2015 videos about Immunotherapy that I have watched talk about trying other combinations. A couple of names in the field that you could look up is Dr.Jedd Wolchok( Memorial Sloan Kettering), Dr.Jeffrey S Weber(Moffit cancer center), Dr. Antoni Ribas (UCLA), Dr.Mario Sznot (Yale) and Dr.Omid Hamid(The Angeles Clinic). Some of the new research is discussed by Dr. Omid Hamid on youtube ( Title is " Future therapies for Melanoma symposium." The Angles Clinic Melanoma Education Symposium 2014. Wishing you the best with your research!!! Ed
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- July 14, 2015 at 3:37 pm
Hi Kimgibler, my first thoughts about research articles is that there might not be any yet. With the tremendous results of combination therapy such as Ipi and Nivo, the Melanoma experts are wanting to find out what other combinations might work together or which combinations might have even better results. Many of the ASCO 2015 videos about Immunotherapy that I have watched talk about trying other combinations. A couple of names in the field that you could look up is Dr.Jedd Wolchok( Memorial Sloan Kettering), Dr.Jeffrey S Weber(Moffit cancer center), Dr. Antoni Ribas (UCLA), Dr.Mario Sznot (Yale) and Dr.Omid Hamid(The Angeles Clinic). Some of the new research is discussed by Dr. Omid Hamid on youtube ( Title is " Future therapies for Melanoma symposium." The Angles Clinic Melanoma Education Symposium 2014. Wishing you the best with your research!!! Ed
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- July 14, 2015 at 3:37 pm
Hi Kimgibler, my first thoughts about research articles is that there might not be any yet. With the tremendous results of combination therapy such as Ipi and Nivo, the Melanoma experts are wanting to find out what other combinations might work together or which combinations might have even better results. Many of the ASCO 2015 videos about Immunotherapy that I have watched talk about trying other combinations. A couple of names in the field that you could look up is Dr.Jedd Wolchok( Memorial Sloan Kettering), Dr.Jeffrey S Weber(Moffit cancer center), Dr. Antoni Ribas (UCLA), Dr.Mario Sznot (Yale) and Dr.Omid Hamid(The Angeles Clinic). Some of the new research is discussed by Dr. Omid Hamid on youtube ( Title is " Future therapies for Melanoma symposium." The Angles Clinic Melanoma Education Symposium 2014. Wishing you the best with your research!!! Ed
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- July 12, 2015 at 8:42 pm
My husband stopped taf and mek about a month ago, and started nivo. Within two weeks things were getting really bad, so he's started up the taf again and has his second nivolumab treatment tomorrow. His liver isn't the most worrisome part of his insides right now, but I'll keep coming back to this thred to follow up with you on how things are going.
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