First MD Anderson Appointment

We had our first appointment at MD Anderson today - the #1 rated cancer hospital in the country.  We met with Dr. Hwu  one of the world’s leading melanoma specialist and the Head of Cancer Medicine at MD Anderson   Doctor Hwu was great.  A really kind man.  He met with Shawn Jr, asked a few questions and then talked to us about the plan of action.  He said they would start Shawn Jr on immunotherapy (regardless of if he has the BRAF mutation) soon. 

Before he starts treatment for the cancer, they have decided they need to cut out some cancer on his neck and on his scalp.  This surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, April 2nd.  The spot on his scalp is where the melanoma started.  They will need to cut that out and take a skin graft from his leg and put it on his head.  This will result in him having a bit of a bald spot on his head.  They will also be cutting out a tumor in the lymph nodes on the left side of his neck.  This is for two purposes.  First, is to eliminate the cancer in that spot.   Second, is part of a clinical trial where they will be taking the tissue from the lymph nodes and attempting to harvest and grow t-cells for potential later use.  They will take the tissue, grow more t-cells and then freeze the entire specimen.  If needed, these t-cells can later be activated, grown into billions of cells and injected back into Shawn Jr’s body to help fight the cancer.   This is part of the backup plan.  

Shawn Jr will start immunotherapy on April 10th.  This will be the first time that the cancer is actually being treated.  This will be a treatment that is taken through an IV once every 3 weeks.  It takes about 1 hour to administer.  Apparently the side effects are very limited.  The type of immunotherapy that Shawn Jr will be administered is a combination of 2 medicines.  This is considered a bit aggressive - but appropriate to battle melanoma.  By the time he starts this treatment, we should also know if he has the BRAF mutation- which will determine if he also needs to take a BRAF inhibitor.  This is a pill he will take in addition to immunotherapy.  

Immunotherapy works in about 50% of patients.  If it does not work, we will pursue other options (like the super t-cell injection discussed above).  They will know in about 12 weeks if immunotherapy is working. We will likely know sooner because the liquid coming from his lungs will decrease and the tumor he has behind his ear will decrease. 

Immunotherapy is the new, new thing.  It is the best treatment right now.  This is basically a way to energize the body’s own immune system to fight cancer.  When it works, it has good long term survival rates and very little side effects. It has only been FDA approved for about 2 years.  They said he could live for decades assuming this works.