Newbie Greetings!

[JeeperJoe]

Good Morning All,

I've joined on behalf of my wife- stage 4 adenocarcinoma/rt lung - and am on a fact-finding/sharing quest hoping to find the best treatment path for us to follow.

She finished her first bout of chemo/radiation about a year and a half ago. The cancer returned this year. She starts her first infusion of Keytruda on 6/28. I certainly hope it lives up to all the hype.

I'm looking forward to swapping experiences with all of you. Hopefully our correspondences will be mutually beneficial.

[janiceowens1957]

I joined on behalf of my husband. He started with Stage 3 traditional chemo and radiation failed. He was not operable. He was started on Opdivo about 9 months ago. Looked promising. Scan in April shows a new growth and they will be repeating his test next month. I pray your wife does well. As for me and my husband, David, we take it treatment by treatment, test by test. Please keep us updated on her progress.

[ThePurplePlace]

HI JeeperJoe,

I am also a Stage IV NSCLC Adeno Patient (Diagnosed 3/27/15). My treatment originally started with Chemo (Carbo and Alimta) and then eventually Alimta Maintenance, I did great on this for the first Summer and actually reached NED. A short time after that my cancer came back and the lung tumor was even more aggressive than it had been at my diagnosis. I then had Radiation and moved on to Opdivo (like Keytruda/Immunotherapy) and had a excellent response. At that time, these drugs had just rec'd FDA approval and I was the very first patient at my local hospital to try "Immunotherapy. Happily it worked amazingly well for me -- I am now "Stable" and have been for 22 months and counting.

I did develop side effects (Pneumonitis) and they did have to stop the "Nivo" about 9 months later, but by then my tumor was almost gone and and it has remained "tiny" and unchanged for almost two years (with no further treatment). When Immunotherapy works it truly is remarkable. On the downside, it does not work for everyone and no one really seems to "know" why or who will be a good responder and who will not. You do have to be very cautious and report any of the "potential" side effects, but for many this treatment is working quite well. I feel it saved my life, so I'm very thankful at the results I had.

I HOPE very much that it will work very well for your wife and she too will soon be Stable.

Best wishes,

Lisa

[JeeperJoe in reply to ThePurplePlace]

Lisa, your reply did much to lift my spirits, and I'm sure it will do the same for my Mrs when I show it to her. She had her first Keytruda infusion 24 hrs ago and we're both hoping immunotherapy lives up to all the hype. I wish you continued success in your future fight against cancer.

[ThePurplePlace in reply to JeeperJoe]

Thank you! Hope your wife will do great too!