I’m not trusting the statistic,,,need help making the rescission to have treatment !

Monalisa61 could you give some more detail about your husbands original tumor removal ( path report details) like depth of primary, ulceration etc. Also, when you say he is stage 3, is he been staged 3a or 3b,c,d etc? Makes a big difference as to how aggressive he should be with treatment. I did interferon back in 2012 and I hear you loud and clear when it comes to worrying about side effects from treatment. Some things to consider with adjuvant treatment have been covered in a recent ASCO serier on Onclive peer exchange, here is a link to some experts talking about adjuvant treatments and how they are now approaching treatment with the new drug approvals for stage 3 folk. https://www.onclive.com/peer-exchange/advanced-melanoma-paradigms/adjuvant-therapy-options-in-melanoma

I am sorry for what you and your husband, have, and continue to go through.  Interferon sucks!!!  It is horrible and though years ago was utliized in the treatment of melanoma ~ we found that it did liitle good, had no statistical impact on overall survival and made folks extremely ill and miserable!!!  Those are statistics and they are true!!!  However, immunotherapy today in melanoma world has saved thousands of us. 

I was diagnosed with Stage 3 melanoma (positive node after cutaneous lesion was removed much like your husband in 2003).  The only treatment available at the time was 'watch and wait' and interferon.  I knew what interferon did (and didn't) do…so I watched and waited.  Another cutaneous lesion was removed in 2007 with negative nodes that time.  In 2010 I developed melanoma brain and lung mets.  After radiation to the brain and surgery to remove the upper right lobe of my lung, I was then NED (no evidence of disease)….but….I was also Stage IV.  I was lucky to gain entry to an early NED trial of Nivolumab (Opdivo) with an arm for Stage IV patients with active disease and another for those who had been rendered NED thru surg and/or radiation like me.  I and my fellow ratties took the drug for 2 1/2 years and did very well….compared to those treated with nothing or interferon and were part of those leading the way for FDA approval of the drug for Stage IV patients in 2011 and as adjuvant more recently.

Immunotherapy (anti-PD-1 (Opdivo or Keytruda), or anti-CTLA-4 [ipilimumab/Yervoy]) are certainly not without risk.  But, I would do it again in a heartbeat.  I know I still have one due soley to my treatment!!!  Further, though it is a little more complicated a decision….I wish I could have done it in 2003…when I was Stage 3.  

Here is a primer I put together they may help you see how far immunotherapy (and other melanoma treatments) have come as well as info regarding administration, side effects and outcomes: 

https://chaoticallypreciselifeloveandmelanoma.blogspot.com/2017/08/melanoma-intel-primer-for-current.html  There is also a glossary to acronyms frequently used at the end.

What we choose to do to treat our melanoma and care for our health generally is exceedingly personal.  However, after my last treatment in June of 2013 – having been faced with the prospect of 6-9 months to live – I remain NED for melanoma!  Now that's some stats that are worth getting behind!!!  Hope this helps.  I wish you and your husband my best.  Celeste

Here are a zillion reports on adjuvant melanoma care generally if you are interested: 

 https://chaoticallypreciselifeloveandmelanoma.blogspot.com/search?q=adjuvant

celeste

And finally, the question you pose and suffering I can only imagine folks like you and Ed have endured….pushed me into completing this post that I've had sitting in my files for a bit:

http://chaoticallypreciselifeloveandmelanoma.blogspot.com/2019/01/kirkwood-needs-to-stop-no-more.html

Again, sorry you and your husband are having to deal with all this.  I am sure you will develop a plan of action that you feel is best.  I wish you well. Celeste

Immunotherapy has come a long way in ten years' time. It's good you are aware of the pitfalls of Interferon, which used to be a drug of choice for Stage III melanoma patients. The side effects were harsh and the trade-off was questionable. The treatment lasted for a year and if you were one of those at risk for a recurrence, it could delay the recurrence by about a year. But in the meantime you were dealing with some harsh side effects.

When I was diagnosed in 2010-2011, my options were Interferon, "Watch & Wait", and a clinical trial. So the fact that your hubby is being offered Opdivo is pretty awesome. While drugs like Opdivo are not without side effects, they are not as severe as those of interferon. Opdivo has saved lives of Stage IV melanoma paitents. 

Here's a thread from this forum by folks who have done both Nivolumab (Opdivo) and Interferon:

https://www.melanoma.org/find-support/patient-community/mpip-melanoma-patients-information-page/nivolumab-versus-interferon