My husband was diagnosed in 2018 with Gleason 10 mets to lymph nodes. He goes to MSKCC in New York City where he started Lupron, then Doxataxel and later Zytiga. He had gene mapping done from his lymph node in back nothing. His tumors continued to grow when his AMAZING doctor Dr. Michael Morris did another gene mapping from the tumor in his prostate and lo and behold there were 61 mutations with one being MSH2 which Keytruda is FDA approved for. After his first treatment his PSA went to undetectable from 0.95 and after his second treatment most of the tumors had a marked interval decrease. However his liver enzymes were high and it showed severe hepatic steatosis so he is going to a MSKCC liver doctor Aug 9th since keytruda had to be stopped. However the treatment seems to have a long term effect as per Dr. Morris which will buy him time to try and get fatty liver under control. As per the scans there is a continued interval decrease in size of prostate gland consistent with post treatment change including decreased extracapsular extension and seminal vesicle invasion. If this gene mapping was not repeated perhaps my husband would have run out of options I tell him every day how lucky he is because the mutation is so rare. It is my sincere prayer that others perhaps consider gene mapping for if there is even a 1% chance that a mutation can be found that can better be treated its worth the chance.
Keytruda worked!!!!: My husband was... - Advanced Prostate...
Keytruda worked!!!!
Congratulations. Good to know he had a good response. If the cancer has the right gene defects Keytruda will work as expected. Best of luck.
AMEN....they say GOD whispers, then HE speaks louder, then HE screams...Cancer may have saved his life strange as it seems because of his life style which has totally had to change. Nothing happens by accident it is all part of a bigger plan....always thankful always grateful...and especially blessed to have found this amazing forum on my journey called Life.
That is amazing! You are lucky to have an oncologist who keeps trying to find answers. Which specific gene mapping was done? It seems there are lots of places that do this with lots of different results.
Always helps to have friends in high places. And you have an impressive doctor!
Great News!!! Keep on Keeping on....
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n Monday 07/29/2019 1:19 PM DST
John I thought you would be first one to respond lol!!!keytruda rocks!
Sorry, I guess you forgot, I'm busy on odd numbered days, that's when I beat my wife. However there's a problem, "she's getting to like it"......
NOT ME.
google.com/search?q=dr+mich...,,,
Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.
j-o-h-n Monday 07/29/2019 4:27 PM DST
Good thing I get your sense of humor because it's also mine...poor Dr Morris how lucky he is to have both of us to contend with...
Congratulations. Many praise Dr. Michael Morris. Good luck going forward.
I hope to see you and your husband at the Prostate Cancer Patient conference on October 5. Six mskcc doctors speak there. prostatecancerconference.org
I am honored to have you send this request because you and mskcc hold such a special place in my heart now. This forum is my extended family, I care for each one of you so I promise to try hard even if I cannot get my husband there to be there myself. Thank you for all you do and thank you for walking the path in life beside us.
Thank you for sharing your fantastic news and giving all of us hope.
What do you have to do to see Dr Morris? So often when you call these cancer meccas and ask for one of the rock stars they refer you to someone else on their staff. That is what happened to us at MD Anderson where some genetic testing was done but it is unclear to us to what extent. All we know for sure is that my husband was negative for germline, which seemed weird since he's third generation prostate cancer victim (grandfather, father, uncles and brother). A friend of ours who has Stage 4 lung cancer was tested twice at MDA and they found no mutations. She then went to the James at Ohio State last November where they did another biopsy. It came back with the ELK mutation; the drs at OSU could not believe MDA missed it--twice! So now our friend is advocating we go to OSU. They have poached drs from major cancer centers from all around the country and poured something like 50 billion dollars into the place in the past couple years. Don't know. We are kind of lost since we have no real local MO who is guiding the ship. Dr Corn at MDA pretty much said they couldn't do much for my husband (although they didn't do anything out of the ordinary, just chemo). I am so glad Keytruda is working for your husband. Would you be willing to share your experience before you went to see Dr Morris? You can message me directly. Thanks.