“Cured”

In 2005, I was also dx with melanoma stage 1 (1.9mm)  Then in 2009, had a recurrence stage 3, then in 2011, mel move to both lungs now I am stage 4.

There is no way of knowing whether or not there are melanoma micro cells floating in your body. I almost went 5 yrs without any problems then I found a small pea size lump on my thigh in 2009.

So you will never know if melanoma will recurr again. There are many people that go 5, 10, 15, and even 20 yrs after being DX stage 1 and then find out after all that time has lapsed, that Melanoma doescome  back. I do not want to sugar coat the melanoma dx. Just try just to live each day. You could be a lucky one and stay at stage 1.

Good Luck

In 2005, I was also dx with melanoma stage 1 (1.9mm)  Then in 2009, had a recurrence stage 3, then in 2011, mel move to both lungs now I am stage 4.

There is no way of knowing whether or not there are melanoma micro cells floating in your body. I almost went 5 yrs without any problems then I found a small pea size lump on my thigh in 2009.

So you will never know if melanoma will recurr again. There are many people that go 5, 10, 15, and even 20 yrs after being DX stage 1 and then find out after all that time has lapsed, that Melanoma doescome  back. I do not want to sugar coat the melanoma dx. Just try just to live each day. You could be a lucky one and stay at stage 1.

Good Luck

In 2005, I was also dx with melanoma stage 1 (1.9mm)  Then in 2009, had a recurrence stage 3, then in 2011, mel move to both lungs now I am stage 4.

There is no way of knowing whether or not there are melanoma micro cells floating in your body. I almost went 5 yrs without any problems then I found a small pea size lump on my thigh in 2009.

So you will never know if melanoma will recurr again. There are many people that go 5, 10, 15, and even 20 yrs after being DX stage 1 and then find out after all that time has lapsed, that Melanoma doescome  back. I do not want to sugar coat the melanoma dx. Just try just to live each day. You could be a lucky one and stay at stage 1.

Good Luck

In my opinion statistics are meaningless. You are an individual & not a number. When it comes to melanoma, there are exceptions for every argument and statement regarding melanoma .

Once you have been Dx with melanoma at any stage, you will always have it. There is NO CURE! As someone else has already stated, it can come back 20 yrs out after remaining dormant.

I think that you need to face reality and hope that your melanoma remains dormant.Even if your surgeon get "Clear margins" from your WLE, you will never know if microscopic cancer cells are outside the margins and floating around. That happened to me, I started at stage 1 and now I am fighting for my life in a clinical trial for stage 4 melanoma patients.

There at many people that stay at stage 1 maybe with prayer and luck, you might never have to deal with Melanoma again. However, the trick is not to think about it everyday and then you perhaps can have a normal life.

Once dx with melanoma, life is just never the same because you MUST get on a routine to have yourself checked out regularly. With those check-ups, come anxiety with hopes that melanoma does not return. I am sorry that you are facing this problen because you are so young. I was 55 when I was first dx.

In my opinion statistics are meaningless. You are an individual & not a number. When it comes to melanoma, there are exceptions for every argument and statement regarding melanoma .

Once you have been Dx with melanoma at any stage, you will always have it. There is NO CURE! As someone else has already stated, it can come back 20 yrs out after remaining dormant.

I think that you need to face reality and hope that your melanoma remains dormant.Even if your surgeon get "Clear margins" from your WLE, you will never know if microscopic cancer cells are outside the margins and floating around. That happened to me, I started at stage 1 and now I am fighting for my life in a clinical trial for stage 4 melanoma patients.

There at many people that stay at stage 1 maybe with prayer and luck, you might never have to deal with Melanoma again. However, the trick is not to think about it everyday and then you perhaps can have a normal life.

Once dx with melanoma, life is just never the same because you MUST get on a routine to have yourself checked out regularly. With those check-ups, come anxiety with hopes that melanoma does not return. I am sorry that you are facing this problen because you are so young. I was 55 when I was first dx.

In my opinion statistics are meaningless. You are an individual & not a number. When it comes to melanoma, there are exceptions for every argument and statement regarding melanoma .

Once you have been Dx with melanoma at any stage, you will always have it. There is NO CURE! As someone else has already stated, it can come back 20 yrs out after remaining dormant.

I think that you need to face reality and hope that your melanoma remains dormant.Even if your surgeon get "Clear margins" from your WLE, you will never know if microscopic cancer cells are outside the margins and floating around. That happened to me, I started at stage 1 and now I am fighting for my life in a clinical trial for stage 4 melanoma patients.

There at many people that stay at stage 1 maybe with prayer and luck, you might never have to deal with Melanoma again. However, the trick is not to think about it everyday and then you perhaps can have a normal life.

Once dx with melanoma, life is just never the same because you MUST get on a routine to have yourself checked out regularly. With those check-ups, come anxiety with hopes that melanoma does not return. I am sorry that you are facing this problen because you are so young. I was 55 when I was first dx.

The majority of 1b melanomas are cured with surgery.  Heck, the majority of 3a is cured with surgery, if you believe the stats.  You Are talking to a minority of people here on this forum who have been in the unlucky minority to progress.  Your melanoma was not really deep.  You have everything on your side in relation to not progressing.  Over 90% do not progress at 1b.  Now, no one can tell you if you will be in the unlucky minority, but as they said, be vigilant as if you do progress, there are many treatment options now available.  Go live your life and don't let that 10 percent odds control it!  That being said, it is still a very scary diagnosis but you will come to terms with it in time. Good luck and Best Wishes. 

The majority of 1b melanomas are cured with surgery.  Heck, the majority of 3a is cured with surgery, if you believe the stats.  You Are talking to a minority of people here on this forum who have been in the unlucky minority to progress.  Your melanoma was not really deep.  You have everything on your side in relation to not progressing.  Over 90% do not progress at 1b.  Now, no one can tell you if you will be in the unlucky minority, but as they said, be vigilant as if you do progress, there are many treatment options now available.  Go live your life and don't let that 10 percent odds control it!  That being said, it is still a very scary diagnosis but you will come to terms with it in time. Good luck and Best Wishes. 

The majority of 1b melanomas are cured with surgery.  Heck, the majority of 3a is cured with surgery, if you believe the stats.  You Are talking to a minority of people here on this forum who have been in the unlucky minority to progress.  Your melanoma was not really deep.  You have everything on your side in relation to not progressing.  Over 90% do not progress at 1b.  Now, no one can tell you if you will be in the unlucky minority, but as they said, be vigilant as if you do progress, there are many treatment options now available.  Go live your life and don't let that 10 percent odds control it!  That being said, it is still a very scary diagnosis but you will come to terms with it in time. Good luck and Best Wishes. 

I find all  the above comments very interesting.  The only times I have heard the word CURE related to melanoma made by all the Melanoma specialists I have read has been in the articles/comments that have said that they have never seen a melanoma patient be a complete responder to the immunotherapy treatment of IL-2 and that then remained as a complete responder for over 30 months.  I  personally know people that have in excess of 20 years of complete response to IL-2 and no longer worry about Melanoma. 

ARE THEY CURED?  Many IL-2 melanoma oncologists say yes.  Do they have any melanoma cells in isolated small numbers in their bodies that the immune system keeps in check, quite possibly. 

I was mis-diagnosed for 3 1/2 years by a GP, and went to Stage IV within 8 months of initial diagnosis.  Even at Stage IV, back when IL-2 was the only likely treatment to have even a slight chance of helping inoperatable Stage IV patients,  I refused (well after a few WHY ME's,) to accept all that I read and even being told by one General Oncologist that I only had between 30 and 180 days to remain earthbound.  Yes, I still have innumerable lung tumors living in both of my lungs.  If you want to compare statistics between your Stage I statistics and my Stage IV statistics, go ahead.  When you do this, review who/what statistics actual refer refer to.  

    I am an individual/  I am still living, I have another 1/2 dozen new grandchildren and 3 Greatgrandkids that I was not supposed to be here to pester.  I do not know when, nor what I will die because of or from.  YES, I pay much attention to melanoma and have for the SEVEN years since I was supposed to have  been dead at STAGE IV.

    Should you be concerned?  YES!

    Should you be paranoid?  Only if you want Melanoma to have already won and taken your life away whjile you are still living. 

    You will have a new reality, live for your family and your joy.  While your statistics based on the 1.9 are not as low as the people with a depth of < 1.  The statistics iin 2007 said I had about a 5% chance of being alive now.  Those statistical numbers were based on people from the past at Stage IV.  The Stage IV numbers have now reached the point that in many trials 45-80% of even Stage IV people are still alive 2 years later.  I expect those number to increase.  As our numbers get better they will learn how to use the newly developed and still develipng treatments to help the lower stage people thru adjuvant treatments. 

    It would be interesting to ask how many people still hang around this board that have not progressed beyound stage I, especially how many that have not had additional primaries.  They are out living life and seldem, if ever, drop back in. 

     Janner has a email group that would be a better representtion and not scare you as much as we do.  She only allows Stage 1 participants.  You can contact her from her contact point on her user profile.

   Be vigilant, not paranoid.   Don't sweat it when people tell you that you are CURED and have nothing to worry about.  It takes about a year for the terror to ease (not disappear) so that you can more enjoy the new reality of your position.

   LOOK up:    The Things I Wish I Were Told When I Was Diagnosed With Cancer
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-tomczek/cancer-advice_b_1628266.html
 

I find all  the above comments very interesting.  The only times I have heard the word CURE related to melanoma made by all the Melanoma specialists I have read has been in the articles/comments that have said that they have never seen a melanoma patient be a complete responder to the immunotherapy treatment of IL-2 and that then remained as a complete responder for over 30 months.  I  personally know people that have in excess of 20 years of complete response to IL-2 and no longer worry about Melanoma. 

ARE THEY CURED?  Many IL-2 melanoma oncologists say yes.  Do they have any melanoma cells in isolated small numbers in their bodies that the immune system keeps in check, quite possibly. 

I was mis-diagnosed for 3 1/2 years by a GP, and went to Stage IV within 8 months of initial diagnosis.  Even at Stage IV, back when IL-2 was the only likely treatment to have even a slight chance of helping inoperatable Stage IV patients,  I refused (well after a few WHY ME's,) to accept all that I read and even being told by one General Oncologist that I only had between 30 and 180 days to remain earthbound.  Yes, I still have innumerable lung tumors living in both of my lungs.  If you want to compare statistics between your Stage I statistics and my Stage IV statistics, go ahead.  When you do this, review who/what statistics actual refer refer to.  

    I am an individual/  I am still living, I have another 1/2 dozen new grandchildren and 3 Greatgrandkids that I was not supposed to be here to pester.  I do not know when, nor what I will die because of or from.  YES, I pay much attention to melanoma and have for the SEVEN years since I was supposed to have  been dead at STAGE IV.

    Should you be concerned?  YES!

    Should you be paranoid?  Only if you want Melanoma to have already won and taken your life away whjile you are still living. 

    You will have a new reality, live for your family and your joy.  While your statistics based on the 1.9 are not as low as the people with a depth of < 1.  The statistics iin 2007 said I had about a 5% chance of being alive now.  Those statistical numbers were based on people from the past at Stage IV.  The Stage IV numbers have now reached the point that in many trials 45-80% of even Stage IV people are still alive 2 years later.  I expect those number to increase.  As our numbers get better they will learn how to use the newly developed and still develipng treatments to help the lower stage people thru adjuvant treatments. 

    It would be interesting to ask how many people still hang around this board that have not progressed beyound stage I, especially how many that have not had additional primaries.  They are out living life and seldem, if ever, drop back in. 

     Janner has a email group that would be a better representtion and not scare you as much as we do.  She only allows Stage 1 participants.  You can contact her from her contact point on her user profile.

   Be vigilant, not paranoid.   Don't sweat it when people tell you that you are CURED and have nothing to worry about.  It takes about a year for the terror to ease (not disappear) so that you can more enjoy the new reality of your position.

   LOOK up:    The Things I Wish I Were Told When I Was Diagnosed With Cancer
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-tomczek/cancer-advice_b_1628266.html
 

I find all  the above comments very interesting.  The only times I have heard the word CURE related to melanoma made by all the Melanoma specialists I have read has been in the articles/comments that have said that they have never seen a melanoma patient be a complete responder to the immunotherapy treatment of IL-2 and that then remained as a complete responder for over 30 months.  I  personally know people that have in excess of 20 years of complete response to IL-2 and no longer worry about Melanoma. 

ARE THEY CURED?  Many IL-2 melanoma oncologists say yes.  Do they have any melanoma cells in isolated small numbers in their bodies that the immune system keeps in check, quite possibly. 

I was mis-diagnosed for 3 1/2 years by a GP, and went to Stage IV within 8 months of initial diagnosis.  Even at Stage IV, back when IL-2 was the only likely treatment to have even a slight chance of helping inoperatable Stage IV patients,  I refused (well after a few WHY ME's,) to accept all that I read and even being told by one General Oncologist that I only had between 30 and 180 days to remain earthbound.  Yes, I still have innumerable lung tumors living in both of my lungs.  If you want to compare statistics between your Stage I statistics and my Stage IV statistics, go ahead.  When you do this, review who/what statistics actual refer refer to.  

    I am an individual/  I am still living, I have another 1/2 dozen new grandchildren and 3 Greatgrandkids that I was not supposed to be here to pester.  I do not know when, nor what I will die because of or from.  YES, I pay much attention to melanoma and have for the SEVEN years since I was supposed to have  been dead at STAGE IV.

    Should you be concerned?  YES!

    Should you be paranoid?  Only if you want Melanoma to have already won and taken your life away whjile you are still living. 

    You will have a new reality, live for your family and your joy.  While your statistics based on the 1.9 are not as low as the people with a depth of < 1.  The statistics iin 2007 said I had about a 5% chance of being alive now.  Those statistical numbers were based on people from the past at Stage IV.  The Stage IV numbers have now reached the point that in many trials 45-80% of even Stage IV people are still alive 2 years later.  I expect those number to increase.  As our numbers get better they will learn how to use the newly developed and still develipng treatments to help the lower stage people thru adjuvant treatments. 

    It would be interesting to ask how many people still hang around this board that have not progressed beyound stage I, especially how many that have not had additional primaries.  They are out living life and seldem, if ever, drop back in. 

     Janner has a email group that would be a better representtion and not scare you as much as we do.  She only allows Stage 1 participants.  You can contact her from her contact point on her user profile.

   Be vigilant, not paranoid.   Don't sweat it when people tell you that you are CURED and have nothing to worry about.  It takes about a year for the terror to ease (not disappear) so that you can more enjoy the new reality of your position.

   LOOK up:    The Things I Wish I Were Told When I Was Diagnosed With Cancer
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-tomczek/cancer-advice_b_1628266.html
 

To the original anon….

Yes, like Jerry I've read all these comments and have not known what to say to you all.  One point that often gets lost is this:

Definitions to keep in mind:
Thickness (Breslow) – actual thickest part of a slice of the tumor…remembering that the lesion can rise above the level of your skin.
Clark level – a description of how deeply the tumor penetrated the layers of your skin.

However, even then…researchers are having a hard time determining whether mitotic rate, size of lesion…in any diminsion…age, tumor location, etc….is THE factor that makes one person have a positive node (or not) and progress (or not).  There is no specific answer.  Nor is there any known answer as to why some progress quickly or others progress many years down the road.

Cure is a very tricky word.  But as Jerry noted in regard to IL2, some docs have begun to use the word with caution in relation to patients having been treated with ipi….an article came out in September of 2013….and are now 10 years out with no progression.  With even more caution, given the shorter time span since its use was begun in clinical trials, they have murmured the word regarding some patients treated with anti-PD1, who are now more than 4 years out.  And while this is all good news in terms of melanoma treatment….hopefully, this treatment data will never apply to you, as you have a good chance that you will not need them.

Vigilence would be wise.  Living life every minute to the best of our abilitity is also wise….for all of us. 

Wishing you my best.  Celeste

To the original anon….

Yes, like Jerry I've read all these comments and have not known what to say to you all.  One point that often gets lost is this:

Definitions to keep in mind:
Thickness (Breslow) – actual thickest part of a slice of the tumor…remembering that the lesion can rise above the level of your skin.
Clark level – a description of how deeply the tumor penetrated the layers of your skin.

However, even then…researchers are having a hard time determining whether mitotic rate, size of lesion…in any diminsion…age, tumor location, etc….is THE factor that makes one person have a positive node (or not) and progress (or not).  There is no specific answer.  Nor is there any known answer as to why some progress quickly or others progress many years down the road.

Cure is a very tricky word.  But as Jerry noted in regard to IL2, some docs have begun to use the word with caution in relation to patients having been treated with ipi….an article came out in September of 2013….and are now 10 years out with no progression.  With even more caution, given the shorter time span since its use was begun in clinical trials, they have murmured the word regarding some patients treated with anti-PD1, who are now more than 4 years out.  And while this is all good news in terms of melanoma treatment….hopefully, this treatment data will never apply to you, as you have a good chance that you will not need them.

Vigilence would be wise.  Living life every minute to the best of our abilitity is also wise….for all of us. 

Wishing you my best.  Celeste

To the original anon….

Yes, like Jerry I've read all these comments and have not known what to say to you all.  One point that often gets lost is this:

Definitions to keep in mind:
Thickness (Breslow) – actual thickest part of a slice of the tumor…remembering that the lesion can rise above the level of your skin.
Clark level – a description of how deeply the tumor penetrated the layers of your skin.

However, even then…researchers are having a hard time determining whether mitotic rate, size of lesion…in any diminsion…age, tumor location, etc….is THE factor that makes one person have a positive node (or not) and progress (or not).  There is no specific answer.  Nor is there any known answer as to why some progress quickly or others progress many years down the road.

Cure is a very tricky word.  But as Jerry noted in regard to IL2, some docs have begun to use the word with caution in relation to patients having been treated with ipi….an article came out in September of 2013….and are now 10 years out with no progression.  With even more caution, given the shorter time span since its use was begun in clinical trials, they have murmured the word regarding some patients treated with anti-PD1, who are now more than 4 years out.  And while this is all good news in terms of melanoma treatment….hopefully, this treatment data will never apply to you, as you have a good chance that you will not need them.

Vigilence would be wise.  Living life every minute to the best of our abilitity is also wise….for all of us. 

Wishing you my best.  Celeste

I was stage 2a in 2007 and went 6 years before 3b diagnosis. My doctor thought I would go along time before continuing on but a year later I am stage 4 with mets in my belly and my lung. So moving along can happen. The new treatments make me sure that even though I have progressed I will be here for a long time. I am strating ippi this week and hope to get into PD-1 compasionate use to treat this beast. 

I was stage 2a in 2007 and went 6 years before 3b diagnosis. My doctor thought I would go along time before continuing on but a year later I am stage 4 with mets in my belly and my lung. So moving along can happen. The new treatments make me sure that even though I have progressed I will be here for a long time. I am strating ippi this week and hope to get into PD-1 compasionate use to treat this beast. 

I was stage 2a in 2007 and went 6 years before 3b diagnosis. My doctor thought I would go along time before continuing on but a year later I am stage 4 with mets in my belly and my lung. So moving along can happen. The new treatments make me sure that even though I have progressed I will be here for a long time. I am strating ippi this week and hope to get into PD-1 compasionate use to treat this beast.