› Forums › General Melanoma Community › inetrferon yes or no?
- This topic has 12 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 10 months ago by
Lisa13.
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- June 17, 2011 at 8:02 pm
my mum was diagnosed with melanoma at march.she had a mole at the midle of her back, she took it iff and it was melanome, great news!!!then she had an opperation to "clear" the region of the elanoma and sln at the axilllaries.
my mum was diagnosed with melanoma at march.she had a mole at the midle of her back, she took it iff and it was melanome, great news!!!then she had an opperation to "clear" the region of the elanoma and sln at the axilllaries. there was found one lymph with micrometastasis at her left sln and then a full axillary disection was made.she is between iiia and iiib because she had a traumtic and not full ulcerations.the doctores told as that she has to do inerferon but after searchinh we found out that it has many side effects and a small acount of progressive.i am so scared and confuised!is theree anyone with the same expirience….i d like to hear some opions because is so hard to take a desition…
thaks alot and i wish to all of you luck and health..
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- June 17, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Chosing treatment will be a very personal choice for your mother's. Some people have tried Interferon and received benefit from it and others tried it and failed. Some people didn't do any treatment and have not had a reoccurence for years. I would definately consider some clinical trials as well since these involve some of the latest and greatest drugs that are showing promise.
When I was diagnosed this year, I decided against Interferon and chose to do a clinical trial. I"m happy I went this route because the cancer came back and if it wasn't for being closely monitored/screened at this trial, I would still be waiting for my regular scan at the end of July!
I know it's so hard to make a decision. Even after making the decision on the clinical trial, I went back and forth in my mind to do Interferon. You just have to go with your gut. The fact your mother's lymph node contained micro mets and melanoma was not ulcerated is better news so far.
Hang in there 🙂
Lisa
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- June 17, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Chosing treatment will be a very personal choice for your mother's. Some people have tried Interferon and received benefit from it and others tried it and failed. Some people didn't do any treatment and have not had a reoccurence for years. I would definately consider some clinical trials as well since these involve some of the latest and greatest drugs that are showing promise.
When I was diagnosed this year, I decided against Interferon and chose to do a clinical trial. I"m happy I went this route because the cancer came back and if it wasn't for being closely monitored/screened at this trial, I would still be waiting for my regular scan at the end of July!
I know it's so hard to make a decision. Even after making the decision on the clinical trial, I went back and forth in my mind to do Interferon. You just have to go with your gut. The fact your mother's lymph node contained micro mets and melanoma was not ulcerated is better news so far.
Hang in there 🙂
Lisa
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- June 17, 2011 at 11:50 pm
There are many of us out here in the same boat. Most 3a's do not have access to trials and the choices are still pretty limited. My choices back in March 2010 was interferon or "wait and watch", I chose wait and watch.
As stated in an earlier post, it's a very personal decision. Some people do not find interferon to hard to tolerate some people are miserable with it. Some docs offer 1 month high dose only some docs will only do the full year. To me it was a pretty simple decision, if it only improved my chances by 3-7% but did NOT improve the survivability of the illness, I saw no reason to be sick for a whole year. So far I am happy with my decision.
Mary
Stage 3
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- June 17, 2011 at 11:50 pm
There are many of us out here in the same boat. Most 3a's do not have access to trials and the choices are still pretty limited. My choices back in March 2010 was interferon or "wait and watch", I chose wait and watch.
As stated in an earlier post, it's a very personal decision. Some people do not find interferon to hard to tolerate some people are miserable with it. Some docs offer 1 month high dose only some docs will only do the full year. To me it was a pretty simple decision, if it only improved my chances by 3-7% but did NOT improve the survivability of the illness, I saw no reason to be sick for a whole year. So far I am happy with my decision.
Mary
Stage 3
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- June 18, 2011 at 12:44 am
I agree with the other replies – such a personal choice. After my 2d recurrance, I chose interferon because watch and wait status was so difficult for me, and as others have said, the constant monitoring while on treatment was a comfort. That said, I could only complete the induction phase because I became too ill. However, my onc. said that, if interferon was going to work, it would most likely be due to the initial phase and not the ongoing. Long story short, I'm back with the disease a year and one half later, but I've never regretted trying the treatment. The point is, after making a decision, it's so important to accept that decision and not look back.
Best of luck to you and your mom.
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- June 18, 2011 at 12:44 am
I agree with the other replies – such a personal choice. After my 2d recurrance, I chose interferon because watch and wait status was so difficult for me, and as others have said, the constant monitoring while on treatment was a comfort. That said, I could only complete the induction phase because I became too ill. However, my onc. said that, if interferon was going to work, it would most likely be due to the initial phase and not the ongoing. Long story short, I'm back with the disease a year and one half later, but I've never regretted trying the treatment. The point is, after making a decision, it's so important to accept that decision and not look back.
Best of luck to you and your mom.
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- June 18, 2011 at 10:20 am
You're getting some good advice. My experience at stage III was to do the 1 month of INF, then wait and see. I finished my treatment in March 2009 and have remained cancer-free. Good luck.
Drew
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- June 18, 2011 at 11:34 am
The important thing do do if she should decide not to do treatment, is to make the immune system as strong as possible. There are many people on here who are taking a natural approach which seems to be working for them. If you search " nutrition or holistica" you should find many topics on this. I've taken everything and even though it didn't work for me, it's not to say it didn't help in preventing it from spreading further or bigger.
There are lots of clinical trials for unresected melanoma and NED and there are more choices now then years ago.
Lisa
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- June 18, 2011 at 11:34 am
The important thing do do if she should decide not to do treatment, is to make the immune system as strong as possible. There are many people on here who are taking a natural approach which seems to be working for them. If you search " nutrition or holistica" you should find many topics on this. I've taken everything and even though it didn't work for me, it's not to say it didn't help in preventing it from spreading further or bigger.
There are lots of clinical trials for unresected melanoma and NED and there are more choices now then years ago.
Lisa
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Tagged: cutaneous melanoma
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