› Forums › General Melanoma Community › My choices for the next therapy is Interferon(INF), Pegylated Interferon or Leukine(GM-CSF)
- This topic has 8 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 13 years ago by
sharmon.
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- April 7, 2011 at 1:15 am
I had my melanoma removed and a sentinel node biopsy done in December of 2010. One of three of the sentinel nodes was positive for cancer. This led to a superficial groin dissection , where all of the Lymph nodes were clear of cancer.
I saw my Oncologist today and was offered three possible therapies for my Melanoma;
1. Standard INF – 4 weeks of IV therapy by 48 weeks of 3 shots per week. Therapy is FDA approved.
2. Pegylated INF – One shot per week for 2 years. This treatment was recently approved by the FDA.
I had my melanoma removed and a sentinel node biopsy done in December of 2010. One of three of the sentinel nodes was positive for cancer. This led to a superficial groin dissection , where all of the Lymph nodes were clear of cancer.
I saw my Oncologist today and was offered three possible therapies for my Melanoma;
1. Standard INF – 4 weeks of IV therapy by 48 weeks of 3 shots per week. Therapy is FDA approved.
2. Pegylated INF – One shot per week for 2 years. This treatment was recently approved by the FDA.
3. Leukine(GM-CSF), not to be confused with IL2, 14 daily shots followed by 14 days without. This schedule to be repeated for one year. Long term study data for this therapy is not yet available. However, Leukine has been shown to be helpful in cases where there has been a cancer recurrence in the patient.
I have a couple weeks to make up my mind and set things in action and would appreciate any input anyone has for the PEG-INF and the Leukine(GM-CSF) therapy versus the standard INF.
- Replies
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- April 9, 2011 at 2:06 am
Your profile mentions that the depth of your primary tumour was over 4.00
mm. This measurement of depth is very important because of the way that
melanoma cells tend to spread.From: http://www.dermnet.org.nz/lesions/melanoma.html
"Once the melanoma cells have reached the dermis, they may spread to other
tissues via the lymphatic system to the local lymph nodes or via the blood
stream to other organs such as the lungs or brain. This is known as
metastatic disease or secondary spread. The chance of this happening mainly
depends on how deep the cells have penetrated into the skin."I think that it would be good to seriously consider Leukine (GM-CSF) because
of the way it appears to change the nature of the cancer in some people.Here is a link to a previous post about Leukine and long-term survival:
http://www.melanoma.org/community/mpip-melanoma-patients-information-page/ned-stage-iv-and-gm-csf-leukineFrank
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- April 9, 2011 at 2:06 am
Your profile mentions that the depth of your primary tumour was over 4.00
mm. This measurement of depth is very important because of the way that
melanoma cells tend to spread.From: http://www.dermnet.org.nz/lesions/melanoma.html
"Once the melanoma cells have reached the dermis, they may spread to other
tissues via the lymphatic system to the local lymph nodes or via the blood
stream to other organs such as the lungs or brain. This is known as
metastatic disease or secondary spread. The chance of this happening mainly
depends on how deep the cells have penetrated into the skin."I think that it would be good to seriously consider Leukine (GM-CSF) because
of the way it appears to change the nature of the cancer in some people.Here is a link to a previous post about Leukine and long-term survival:
http://www.melanoma.org/community/mpip-melanoma-patients-information-page/ned-stage-iv-and-gm-csf-leukineFrank
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- April 9, 2011 at 2:53 am
THe study on leukine has been published last June when they had the ASCO conference. It was found to not have a significant difference. I was part of that trial. I have had many recurrances since then but they have so far all been individual tumors. I don't know if it made a difference or not for me. I pasted this from an old post.
E4697: Phase III cooperative group study of yeast-derived granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) versus placebo as adjuvant treatment of patients with completely resected stage III-IV melanoma.
This is an ECOG study begun in 2006 to see if SQ GM-CSF is an effective adjuvant treatment in patients with resectable metastatic disease, after surgery. The primary endpoint was overall survival which at the time of the abstract’s writing (updates for ASCO are suggested in the text) was NOT met, meaning that overall the drug was not effective. PFS (progression free survival) was positive statistically but only 3 months difference.
full abstract link:
http://abstract.asco.org/AbstView_74_49374.htmlWhat ever your decision is you just have to go into it with a positive attitude and not look back or second guess yourself.
Linda
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- April 9, 2011 at 9:29 am
I completed 1 year of GM-CSF 14 days on 14 dys off sub-q…nine months later I had a dirty PET/CT scan, waited 2 months repeat tests…tumor growth now in both lungs and chest wall. Biopsy of 3 chest nodes = no melanoma. i requested a VATS procedure to remove lung node for pathalogy. Good luck. my best to you and yours,
Suzan AB
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- April 9, 2011 at 9:29 am
I completed 1 year of GM-CSF 14 days on 14 dys off sub-q…nine months later I had a dirty PET/CT scan, waited 2 months repeat tests…tumor growth now in both lungs and chest wall. Biopsy of 3 chest nodes = no melanoma. i requested a VATS procedure to remove lung node for pathalogy. Good luck. my best to you and yours,
Suzan AB
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- April 9, 2011 at 2:53 am
THe study on leukine has been published last June when they had the ASCO conference. It was found to not have a significant difference. I was part of that trial. I have had many recurrances since then but they have so far all been individual tumors. I don't know if it made a difference or not for me. I pasted this from an old post.
E4697: Phase III cooperative group study of yeast-derived granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) versus placebo as adjuvant treatment of patients with completely resected stage III-IV melanoma.
This is an ECOG study begun in 2006 to see if SQ GM-CSF is an effective adjuvant treatment in patients with resectable metastatic disease, after surgery. The primary endpoint was overall survival which at the time of the abstract’s writing (updates for ASCO are suggested in the text) was NOT met, meaning that overall the drug was not effective. PFS (progression free survival) was positive statistically but only 3 months difference.
full abstract link:
http://abstract.asco.org/AbstView_74_49374.htmlWhat ever your decision is you just have to go into it with a positive attitude and not look back or second guess yourself.
Linda
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- April 9, 2011 at 1:13 pm
I had the choice back in 2007, and I selected Leukine. The track record for the chemo is so poor and taking it would not allow me to participate in some trials. The disease remained stable for as long as I was on the Leukine (1 yr). Once off the drug, within 6 weeks, the disease came back in my lungs. My recomendation would be the Leukine and stay on it as long as possible…….. For me minimal side effects…
FYI I have been on MEK for the last 15 months….
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- April 9, 2011 at 1:13 pm
I had the choice back in 2007, and I selected Leukine. The track record for the chemo is so poor and taking it would not allow me to participate in some trials. The disease remained stable for as long as I was on the Leukine (1 yr). Once off the drug, within 6 weeks, the disease came back in my lungs. My recomendation would be the Leukine and stay on it as long as possible…….. For me minimal side effects…
FYI I have been on MEK for the last 15 months….
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