Need thinking caps

While there's a great deal of technical issues I can't answer, I can suggest that you ask Dr. Weber to explain his "NO!"  You're entitled to understand why he says that.

My question is, you are well-versed in your options it seems and have been through a lot already. You know your body and at 63, you know your heart & gut. What is your gut telling you? What option are you leaning toward? You're the one who will have to live with any outcomes of any option you choose…what can you best live & cope with? That of course is mainly for Brent. I'm sure both of you just want to choose the option that will lead to a better, longer life.

Lord, in Your vast wisdom and understanding, grant that wisdom to Brent and Sharon as they seek to make decisions. They need more answers than they're getting, even though they already know much. Open hearts to them and doors for them. Lead them in the best way to go. May they continue to have unity of heart, mind, and purpose. Bless them both and grant them Your peace and Hope. Lord, in Your mercy. Amen.

While there's a great deal of technical issues I can't answer, I can suggest that you ask Dr. Weber to explain his "NO!"  You're entitled to understand why he says that.

My question is, you are well-versed in your options it seems and have been through a lot already. You know your body and at 63, you know your heart & gut. What is your gut telling you? What option are you leaning toward? You're the one who will have to live with any outcomes of any option you choose…what can you best live & cope with? That of course is mainly for Brent. I'm sure both of you just want to choose the option that will lead to a better, longer life.

Lord, in Your vast wisdom and understanding, grant that wisdom to Brent and Sharon as they seek to make decisions. They need more answers than they're getting, even though they already know much. Open hearts to them and doors for them. Lead them in the best way to go. May they continue to have unity of heart, mind, and purpose. Bless them both and grant them Your peace and Hope. Lord, in Your mercy. Amen.

Our son was on Carbo and Taxol and had stable/reductions for 7 months. It may be that it was the chemo working and not the Ippi. You should check out the data from that trial to see if there was a Control group to determine whether Ippi made a difference. Also ask if others had success with MEK and were BRAF negative.

Brent seems like he has an alert Immune system i am sure that whatever you choose his own body will be in there standing alongside it and fighting.

best wishes

James

Our son was on Carbo and Taxol and had stable/reductions for 7 months. It may be that it was the chemo working and not the Ippi. You should check out the data from that trial to see if there was a Control group to determine whether Ippi made a difference. Also ask if others had success with MEK and were BRAF negative.

Brent seems like he has an alert Immune system i am sure that whatever you choose his own body will be in there standing alongside it and fighting.

best wishes

James

I don't know how much this will help, but I would like to share some info and thoughts
with you.

Unfortunately, the current situation is that melanoma is likely to outsmart nearly every
treatment that we have at the moment. A few years ago, a wise oncologist told us that
doctors know very little about melanoma, and I feel that is still true today.

Many experimental drugs look promising, but they will need to be tested for a long time so
that doctors and scientists will be sure of what they can or cannot do for the patient.

You asked if "… all this stability due to IPI followed by Bio. and shoud we reintroduce
IPI?" I don't think that anyone can give you a 100% definite answer to that question
because there are too many things that remain uncertain.

Another good point that you mention is that he "… is Braf negative and there is no real
reason he should be responding to Mek". That logic would certainly apply if we were sure
of how melanoma would react in all circumstances, but this cancer is far more devious than
many people can possibly imagine.

I haven't been able to find much about ABT-888, but I found here is some info about PARP
inhibitors in general:
http://curetoday.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/blog.showIndex/debutripathy/2011/4/8/A-few-more-answers-and-questions-about-the-PARP-inhibitor-trials

The article states: "The truth will eventually emerge, and while it is possible that we
might be disappointed, the data so far suggests that PARP inhibitors will be effective
drugs – it remains to be seen which inhibitor (since they all seem to be different) and
which patients will benefit (since we don't know which tumors really rely on this
enzyme)".

So what is one to do? I don't know, but any new treatment is probably worth trying because
it might just work as scientists think that it could.

Hope this helps.

Frank from Australia

I don't know how much this will help, but I would like to share some info and thoughts
with you.

Unfortunately, the current situation is that melanoma is likely to outsmart nearly every
treatment that we have at the moment. A few years ago, a wise oncologist told us that
doctors know very little about melanoma, and I feel that is still true today.

Many experimental drugs look promising, but they will need to be tested for a long time so
that doctors and scientists will be sure of what they can or cannot do for the patient.

You asked if "… all this stability due to IPI followed by Bio. and shoud we reintroduce
IPI?" I don't think that anyone can give you a 100% definite answer to that question
because there are too many things that remain uncertain.

Another good point that you mention is that he "… is Braf negative and there is no real
reason he should be responding to Mek". That logic would certainly apply if we were sure
of how melanoma would react in all circumstances, but this cancer is far more devious than
many people can possibly imagine.

I haven't been able to find much about ABT-888, but I found here is some info about PARP
inhibitors in general:
http://curetoday.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/blog.showIndex/debutripathy/2011/4/8/A-few-more-answers-and-questions-about-the-PARP-inhibitor-trials

The article states: "The truth will eventually emerge, and while it is possible that we
might be disappointed, the data so far suggests that PARP inhibitors will be effective
drugs – it remains to be seen which inhibitor (since they all seem to be different) and
which patients will benefit (since we don't know which tumors really rely on this
enzyme)".

So what is one to do? I don't know, but any new treatment is probably worth trying because
it might just work as scientists think that it could.

Hope this helps.

Frank from Australia