Nobel Prize in Medicine to Drs. Allison and Honjo

Hallelujah, so thankful for Drs. Allison and Honjo winning the Nobel Prize. Fifteen years ago, the pharmaceutical corps and doctors all believed the CTLA-4 receptor told the immune system to keep running. Both of these doctors researched and found that the CTLA-4 receptor was responsible for shutting off the immune system responses. So all of you that are NED from immunotherapy, say some prayers for both of the doctors and maybe encourage your children to become medical researchers. Doctors Allison and Honjo, both of you are the HEROS of our lives.

Here is a pretty good presentation from Dr. Allison where he explains the science behind CTLA-4 (Ipi). Dr. Honjo was the guy who discovered Pd-1 check point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PphTL6vY4W4

Clearly written article about it, with a shout out to our friend (sometimes), ipi: 

https://www.vox.com/2018/10/1/17922870/nobel-prize-physiology-medicine-2018

Ipi did not work for me – liver numbers shot up and had to be taken off (depressing) – but keytruda (honjo) has let me hang in, kicking out one and now a really slow response on the other (helped by TVEC). these guys may have saved my life (not there yet and not sure i will ever know for certain), they have certainly saved the lives of many on our board. its the main news of the day; i am very grateful – they only just discovered these treatments and i am on a combo guided by their insights. we could still do with better odds ( i remember when starting out, when my onc told me not to worry they were developing great new treatments for melanoma, with a 40 percent succes rate – and I told him, thats NOT great!) but maybe thanks to these guys i am alive and some of us here are actually cured (not that we will know it)

i am hoping that maybe if it works for my melanoma (big if and i dont want to jinx it), will pd1 protect me against other cancers (well not all but some?)?? can this be true?

anyway – this was a well deserved prize and i am immensely grateful to these two, their teams and other researchers in this field

Yes, thanks to these researchers and others we've come a long way baby!!!  Much further along than when I was first diagnosed in 2003.  Much further along than when I progressed to Stage IV in 2010 when NONE of the current immunotherapies nor targeted therapies for melanoma were FDA approved.  However, we have miles to go and hopefully….these and other researchers will help us reach the point where a 40-60% response rate for immunotherapy is a thing of the past….with ALL melanoma patients reaping benefit from treatment.  And ~ gotta say ~ these researchers alone would have gotten us NO WHERE!  Here is my imaginary but simultaneously real and heart felt NOBEL PRIZE for courage and strength and the advancement of medicine – presented to the RATTIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (And a few mice!!!) 

love, c