Cold, hard, facts about melanoma treatments!!!

There is so much confusion, wishful thinking, denial, and desperation on some of the melanoma boards I have looked at lately!!  It makes me very sad...and I guess if I were brave I would post this info there.  However, people who are (or have loved ones) on various drugs or trials often do not like it when someone tries to delve into the reality of the results or lack thereof.  So here is the scoop:

Interferon:  Though some papers report better tolerated when pegalated...many patients, docs and other papers report no difference.  Results for peg is no better. Data shows Interferon provides a 10% response rate, meaning - overall survival is improved by 10% over 5 years.

Ipi (now Yervoy):  Provides a 47% chance of 1 year survival and a 25% chance of a two year survival.  Some studies, especially in treatment naive patients, report a response rate of 40-50%.  The average published response rate is 20%.  The first numbers are those given in some individual studies.

Anti-PD1:  The data here is very limited.  (They're waiting to see what happens to me!!!!...and my fellow lab rats!) Published response rate is 30%, but it is not really comparable data because it was attained from a very small group.

IL2: 10% of patients have a response. 4-5% have a durable response, meaning living possibly as long as 5 years, though it is rather undefined.

Vaccine therapy....MAGE 3:  Statistically improved survival, but a very restricted population because you must have the antigen to elicit the response.

BRAF:  50% of melanoma patients have the required mutation. (Obviously, this means 50% of folks do not...therefore the treatment is useless for them.) 70-80% of people with the needed antigen have a response that remains durable for 7-8 months.

These are all data points on a graph. Individual patients do better and worse.  Some people will have no response at all to a drug with the best documented response rates and others will do very well, for  longer than expected, to drugs with the worst response rate history.  However, one fact is very clear - All of the treatments provide their best response when taken with the least tumor burden possible.

Perhaps there are those that this will help.  Hiding your head under the sand, or under your pillow, will not.  Much love - c

PS: Obviously, potential side effects and drug availability are a whole other can of worms....but I thought we'd just start here!!!