Hi I am coming to the end of 2 years on Nivolumab.I had targeted drugs before for 7 months but the tumours started to grow and I was switched to ipi and Nivolumab and then Nivolumab only.I have a CT scan tomorrow and then in 8 weeks time the consultant will discuss the next stage of action. At the moment my tumours are shrinking but are still there. I was originally told they couldn’t operate as there were too many blood vessels involved and it was 11 cm at the time. I also had melanoma near my spine and in my lungs. Everything in the 2 years is shrinking and scans every 3 months have said stable or shrinking.I am well on Nivolumab with only itchiness and joint pain at times. I wondered if there was anything new to try or am I able to continue with this treatment that up to now seems to be working.I know it’s expensive and wondered if there was a limited amount a person could have . Any advise would be gratefully excepted as I want to be prepared for the meeting with the consultant
Hi lgrgdg90, unlike Lung cancer which has a 2 year limit on immunotherapy we melanoma patients don’t have a time restriction, so I expect that things will carry on as now. There is an option to have breaks in treatments and go back on to them when a scan shows you need it but it doesn’t sound like your a complete responder yet so I’m not sure that they will encourage a break. I was told that when I need a change of treatment I can go back on Dabrafenib and combine it with Tramatenib (Dab alone worked for 9 months for me but dab tram usually works for longer, encorafenib with binimetinib wasn’t mentioned but might be an option for me as well.
i hope this helps and that your scan and results go well.
Take care KT
Thank you for the information I had been on DabTram for 7 months and had to change to immunotherapy.I hope I can just continue with the treatment and maybe if the main tumour shrinks more they may operate. I think they said in April I will have a pet scan and they will see what part if any of the tumour is dead. Thanks again and good luck with your journey through this
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