To provide the information your oncologist is not telling you or doesn't have the time to!
I have sponsor, regulatory and IRB permissions/approval to post this blog publicly on social media. I am very excited about this protocol using intra-tumoral modified Polio viral therapy for patients with metastatic melanomas. Lerapolturev (formerly known as PVSRIPO) is a type of oncolytic virus that is currently being studied for the treatment of melanoma. An …
As a medical oncologist, I’m often asked by patients about radiation therapy. When is the best time to consider it? What is the best type of radiation therapy to be given? Why can’t we treat all sites of metastatic disease? The question of using radiotherapy will depend on many factors, such as cancer types, biology, …
Melanoma is a tricky disease that often comes back when you least expect it. Just like a sneaky burglar who breaks into your house when you’re not looking, melanoma can hide in your body and then suddenly reappear. That’s exactly what happened to one of my patients, who thought she had beaten the disease years …
I recently saw a patient who is now 8 years in remission from metastatic melanoma. In the beginning of his cancer journey, this young male patient had declined all medical therapy, hoping for a more alternative approach to treating his cancer by modifying his nutrition and taking herbal medicines. At that time, he only wanted …
Recently, I encountered a patient who was also being co-managed by another oncologist at a major hospital institution in the state. The patient had Stage IV Merkel Cell Carcinoma, which is a particularly aggressive form of skin cancer. Prior treatment with a single agent drug called pembro had failed the patient with rapid progressive disease …
How do we know if treatment is working in patients dealing with solid tumors? Clinically, we like to see symptom improvement over time. If there is a tumor causing pain, swelling, obstruction, then over time we like to see improvement of these symptoms while on treatment. We like to see patients come off their nausea …
A lot of this was summarized well by David Minster in JCO published way back in 2013 and a decade later, I still refer to this same article to this day! This article is 3rd in a series of blog articles on this topic. Treating geriatric patients is often a difficult task. There are so many factors …
Recently, I saw a patient with metastatic melanoma who is now more than five years out in complete remission. Her scans were clean, and she has been doing well off all therapy for several years. Now, I see her every six months and she is now coming off protocol for a treatment she did on …
I have sponsor, regulatory and IRB permissions/approval to post this blog publicly on social media. I am very excited about this protocol using TILs for breast cancer, colorectal, uveal melanomas, and now also inclusive of cutaneous melanoma, nsclc, head/neck carcinoma. Further details can be found here at the sponsor site and at clinical trials.gov. Adoptive …
Oncologists face many ethical challenges in their practice, including balancing honesty and optimism, aggressive and careful treatment, appropriate treatment for the elderly, and when to refer patients to hospice. Telling patients the truth about their diagnosis and more importantly the prognosis while also providing hope can be difficult, as can balancing the intensity of treatment …