4 ms·
I'm a multiple myeloma patient, and started daratumumab a few months ago, which is a monoclonal antibody. It's not a checkpoint inhibitor as described in OP, bu
by throwaway945232 10y ago
I'm a multiple myeloma patient, and started daratumumab a few months ago, which is a monoclonal antibody. It's not a checkpoint inhibitor as described in OP, but rather binds to CD38 which is overexpressed by MM cells, and thereby activates the immune system against those cells.
Certainly activating the body's own defenses against cancer cells seems like an effective approach. Side effects are minimal as the therapy is more targeted, but as the article mentions, we just don't understand enough right now about when they will fail or why they fail.
My own results on dara have been underwhelming. The first month raised our hopes of a complete response, but it totally flat-lined by the second month. By month 3 levels were rising again, and now it seems I've bred a more resistant clone. My next stage of treatment may very well include a CAR-T based therapy, or a checkpoint inhibitor.
One thing the article gets wrong is the cost. Insurance pays up to $10k per infusion, but co-pays are capped at < $10k per year. There is a huge market for these novel agents, and insurance companies are on the hook to pay for FDA approved treatments. From what I can tell this is driving massive R&D investment and a large pipeline of new potential treatments.
- atomical 10y agoJust curious, why the throw away account?
- throwaway945232 10y agoI guess that's one nice thing about chemo that doesn't make you lose your hair, cancer isn't really part of my public identity. Of course my close friends and family know, a few work colleagues, but for now at least that's the extent of it. I guess I have a keenly evolved defense mechanism of just not dwelling on shit I can't handle, and not sharing that particular fact means it doesn't become a part of every conversation. For now anyway, it's just not something I would want to show up on Google tied to my nick.
- icantdrive55 10y agoYou shouldn't even have to respond to that question. I guess I'm getting older, or from a different generation, but a lot of life is personal--right? I'm shocked at how fast Google scoops up these posts for the world to see forever. There been times where I go back to edit/delete a comment, and figure what's the point; Google set it in stone.
- reitanqild 10y agoPart of why I love HN: pseudonymous and throwaway accounts allowed + sane community moderation. Discussing certain things under full name would almost be irresponsible for some people as long as Google, Facebook and various TLAs in both the East and the West has this landgrab going.
- atomical 10y agoI assumed he didn't want people to know, but I was curious to know his response just the same.
- takinola 10y agoOver the years, I have gotten to know a couple MM patients who have had great results from the double stem cell transplant approach. Happy to put you in touch with some of them if you want to explore that option.
- teekert 10y agoWe are getting better at it already! Perhaps it is more difficult with blood cancers such as yours but for solid tumors one can roughly say (in linked article the focus is on colon cancer): the more mutations, the more proteins that deviate from your normal proteins, the better the chance the immune system has at recognizing a tumor as foreign. Also clues (as to if someone will respond to immuno therapy) are in how many and what type of immune cells are inside the tumor (as opposed to only in the surrounding healthy tissue). This can be seen in the standard pathologist slides that are made from biopsies. That said, there are still some responders among those who show unfavorable signatures for immune therapy, so there is work to be done. [0] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298427742_Integrative_Analyses_of_Colorectal_Cancer_Show_Immunoscore_Is_a_Stronger_Predictor_of_Patient_Survival_Than_Microsatellite_Instability https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298427742_Integrati...