Immunotherapy

Hi

I have just finished immunotherapy, every 6 weeks for the past 12 months.

I managed 7 out of the 9, which I see as positive.

I started to get side effects after the 3rd treatment and had quite bad colitis,  side effects are different for everyone.The toxicity team got things under control and I was put on a dose of steroids.I then went on to have a further 4 treatments but then had a couple of flare ups, which were addressed much quicker as they knew the cause,.I decided after discussions with Oncology to not have a final one in February due to the possibility of a further flare up and then needing to go on steroids again.

Talk to your Oncologist and work out what is best for you to give you the best chance.I dont regret having had the immunotherapy,I had regular scans and feel I have given myself the best chance possible and immunotherapy is seen as a very positive treatment.

Good luck with your onward journey.Take care xx

Thank you for your response it is reassuring. My consultant oncologist was very negative about it and said it was a difficult choice as I'm only stage 2b, the oncologist doctor was positive saying that it would give the best chance of not coming back. He said if it came back as melanoma then they can cut it out but if it came back as something different it could be more difficult to remove. I am worried as this was a benign mole which was removed but then grew back and tested as malignant a couple of years later.

Hi Rumble

My partner was offered a 1 year Pembro immunotherapy trial at stage 2b. He decided to have the trial. It kept the melanoma from returning during the trial. As soon as the trial finished it came back twice in the same place.

The only side effects he had were fatigue and aches and pains. 

Of course everyone's situation and side effects can be different.

Hope this helps, but again talk it through with your oncologist.

Best Wishes

Margyy

Hi Rumble

I had a WLE ,also Lymph Nodes tested which were clear 4 years ago, I never had any type of scan  and was not offered any treatment. Last year I had an enlarged node and got diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. I have now received 3 treatments of Pembro with no side effects and a ct scan has noted an improvement. If I had received the immunotherapy 4 years ago there is no way of knowing if it would have put me in a better position now.

The decision is yours and whatever you choose I hope you do well.

Hi,

I'm currently struggling with colitis after treatment but really want to give the immunotherapy the best chance of working. Did the steroids alone manage to get your colitis under control enough for you to continue immunotherapy? Where you weaned off the steroids before you had the next dose of therapy? Thank you.