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Mixed scan results today

Forums General Melanoma Community Mixed scan results today

  • Post
    cjm22
    Participant

      We talked to the oncologist about my husband's PET scan from last week! He has been on Keytruda since mid-November and also got one low-dose Yervoy three weeks ago (next one is tomorrow).

      Mixed results:

      – Most mets have shrunk (in fact, the one near his spine that put my husband in a wheelchair and in the hospital last November has disappeared)

      – There is one small, new spot elsewhere in his spine

      – The spot in his adrenal gland looks brighter on the scan

      – His liver looks a little worse in his blood work

      So … Mixed bag. The oncologist thinks that the new spot in his spine as well as the brighter spot in his adrenal gland could be due to the introduction of Yervoy, since that might have led to additional inflammation. She says it's hard to tell from the scan. The liver issues might also be from the Yervoy.

      He will go back for blood work again in a week and a half to monitor his liver more closely.

      He will also get another PET scan in three months (barring worsening symptoms in the meantime) to get a clearer idea of whether these drugs are really working for him or not.

      She said overall the meeting was positive, but I'm still pretty sad. I was hoping for better news — that everything had shrunk.

      But I guess for now we just keep on playing the waiting game.

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        Hukill
        Participant

          The good news in this is it appears his immune system is reacting to the yervoy. The not as good news is there may be more side effects after the second dose. I had some side effects at the start but after the third dose of yervoy is when my more severe side effects started but none so bad I had to stop treatment and I even still worked. I had 7 mets in my lungs, first scan at 8 weeks 6 had shrunk and 1 was the same size. 15 months later all were gone and been gone for 19 months. Some people say mets will increase in size at the start due to increase white blood cells in the mets, makes since. I knew after the second week treatment was working due to a new pain I had gotten in my right side before I was diagnosed had gone away. This is a wonderful site with so many intelligent people. I wish you and your husband the best and keep in mind the worst side effects are better than melanoma.

            cjm22
            Participant

              Thank you, I hope you're right. I'm most worried that there is a new spot near his spine 🙁 My understanding is that there should be no new spots if the treatment is working. Pseudoprogression only applies to pre-existing masses growing, not new masses appearing. But I hope now maybe the Yervoy will kick in. He's mostly just been on Keytruda this whole time, and he only started Yervoy 3 weeks ago.

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