Terminal liver cancer - Drug IMFRIMZI

Hi Findlay 

I am not a member of this forum as I don’t have primary liver cancer. I do however have secondary liver cancer (breast cancer metastasis). The drug imfrimzi (durvalumab) is a PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor. I was treated with a similar drug, Pembrolizumab, when my cancer became metastatic, and had a good outcome. Pembrolizumab is a PD-1 inhibitor, but the intention of both classes of drugs is similar.

In normal circumstances PD-1 and PD-L1 bind together to create immune privileged zones in our bodies; this is how our bodies protect critical organs and our endocrine system from too much immune system interference. Your cancer - and mine - is mimicking this mechanism in order to hide from the immune system, like an invisibility cloak for the cancer.  Checkpoint inhibitors like durvalumab and Pembrolizumab break the PD-1 / PD-L1 bind in order to allow the immune system to ‘see’ the cancer. 

My treatment was also intended as a life extender, but it put me into a full remission which is now in its third year. The drugs don’t work for everyone but when they do they can work very well.  The downside is that with the brakes taken off the immune system, there can be problems with the immune system attacking organs that would otherwise be shielded. I experienced kidney, thyroid and lung damage but these were promptly addressed with a course of high dose steroids and replacement thyroxine. I