5 ms·

She underwent six months of chemotherapy and a mastectomy in April 2018, followed by 15 cycles of radiotherapy which cleared her body of cancer. But in October

by Namari 4y ago

She underwent six months of chemotherapy and a mastectomy in April 2018, followed by 15 cycles of radiotherapy which cleared her body of cancer. But in October 2019 the cancer returned, and scans showed it had spread to her lung, lymph nodes and chest bone and she was told she had a poor prognosis. 'Horrible side effects' Two months later, the mother-of-two was offered a two-year trial at The Christie of an experimental medicine combined with Atezolizumab, an immunotherapy drug. Doctors have told her she is now showing no evidence of the disease.

jsorrel 4y ago
Worth noting that "no evidence of disease" is not the same as cured. My mother was diagnosed with a moderately-aggressive terminal metastatic breast cancer and given months to live, but enjoyed a few years of high quality of life after her doctor cleared her with "no evidence of disease" thanks to an aggressive chemotherapy protocol. That was about 15 years ago. She passed just under 7 years from diagnosis.
- missedthecue 4y ago
  Is it even possible to prove you are completely cancer free? Or is that like proving a negative?
  - florbo 4y ago
    Possible? Sure! Individual evaluation of every cell in your body is possible. Our capability to do so, however...
    - elbigbad 4y ago
      So it’s not possible?
  - nradov 4y ago
    About 100% of older people have cancer. It's just that many of those cancers are tiny and slow growing, such that they don't cause any serious clinical symptoms and often aren't even detectible with routine screening tests.
    - Namari 4y ago
      I've never heard of that, where did you read about it?
  - colechristensen 4y ago
    You’d have to come up with a definition of cancer free. Cells replicating poorly resulting in a cancerous single cell happens all the time and gets cleaned up.
  - adamredwoods 4y ago
    No, we don't have the technology. Once cancer cells are systemic (metastatic), they can end up in bone or brain, where it can be extremely difficult to detect or treat. Cancer cells only need one rogue cell, and takes about 2 years to grow to a size that appears in tests. Sadly, cancer can also mutate to avoid the PD-L1 pathway.
- steve_adams_86 4y ago
  Similar story here. My mom was diagnosed around 2003, extremely aggressive breast cancer, they gave her around 9 months as I recall. It went into remission. Treatment was very effective. Her doctor had no idea how such an aggressive cancer was put into remission so quickly. Around 3 years later it was back despite routine checks and her being clear of cancer. This time it was everywhere very suddenly, yet it took 4 years to kill her. Such an awful way to go.
  - Namari 4y ago
    Really sad to hear that story. Out of curiosity, has she changed her way of living post treatment? I always wondered, if you stick in the same environment with the same lifestyle, I feel like it's something that could retrigger it. Could be the water, the polution, the food, lack of sun ...
- Namari 4y ago
  Out of curiosity, has she changed her way of living post treatment? I always wondered, if you stick in the same environment with the same lifestyle, I feel like it's something that could retrigger it. Could be the water, the polution, the food, lack of sun ... Also I read that it's not great to stay at the same place that made you sick in the first place.
ekianjo 4y ago
Impressive story in line with the impressive efficacy of some immunotherapy candidates. However not every patient gets a miracle which is something the press is terrible at conveying
- Teever 4y ago
  The press needs to convey that not everyone who gets cancer is going to get an 11th hour miracle treatment, really? What exactly do you think the average persons impression of cancer prognosis and treatment is exactly?
  - ekianjo 4y ago
    > The press needs to convey that not everyone who gets cancer is going to get an 11th hour miracle treatment, really? empathy matters
agumonkey 4y ago
It's almost unbelievable to read about quick and clean solutions like these for cancer (especially with long history of treatment and relapse). Very uplifting.

by Namari 4y ago

jsorrel 4y ago

Worth noting that "no evidence of disease" is not the same as cured. My mother was diagnosed with a moderately-aggressive terminal metastatic breast cancer and given months to live, but enjoyed a few years of high quality of life after her doctor cleared her with "no evidence of disease" thanks to an aggressive chemotherapy protocol. That was about 15 years ago. She passed just under 7 years from diagnosis.

missedthecue 4y ago
Is it even possible to prove you are completely cancer free? Or is that like proving a negative?
- florbo 4y ago
  Possible? Sure! Individual evaluation of every cell in your body is possible. Our capability to do so, however...
  - elbigbad 4y ago
    So it’s not possible?
- nradov 4y ago
  About 100% of older people have cancer. It's just that many of those cancers are tiny and slow growing, such that they don't cause any serious clinical symptoms and often aren't even detectible with routine screening tests.
  - Namari 4y ago
    I've never heard of that, where did you read about it?
- colechristensen 4y ago
  You’d have to come up with a definition of cancer free. Cells replicating poorly resulting in a cancerous single cell happens all the time and gets cleaned up.
- adamredwoods 4y ago
  No, we don't have the technology. Once cancer cells are systemic (metastatic), they can end up in bone or brain, where it can be extremely difficult to detect or treat. Cancer cells only need one rogue cell, and takes about 2 years to grow to a size that appears in tests. Sadly, cancer can also mutate to avoid the PD-L1 pathway.
steve_adams_86 4y ago
Similar story here. My mom was diagnosed around 2003, extremely aggressive breast cancer, they gave her around 9 months as I recall. It went into remission. Treatment was very effective. Her doctor had no idea how such an aggressive cancer was put into remission so quickly. Around 3 years later it was back despite routine checks and her being clear of cancer. This time it was everywhere very suddenly, yet it took 4 years to kill her. Such an awful way to go.
- Namari 4y ago
  Really sad to hear that story. Out of curiosity, has she changed her way of living post treatment? I always wondered, if you stick in the same environment with the same lifestyle, I feel like it's something that could retrigger it. Could be the water, the polution, the food, lack of sun ...
Namari 4y ago
Out of curiosity, has she changed her way of living post treatment? I always wondered, if you stick in the same environment with the same lifestyle, I feel like it's something that could retrigger it. Could be the water, the polution, the food, lack of sun ... Also I read that it's not great to stay at the same place that made you sick in the first place.

ekianjo 4y ago

Impressive story in line with the impressive efficacy of some immunotherapy candidates. However not every patient gets a miracle which is something the press is terrible at conveying

Teever 4y ago
The press needs to convey that not everyone who gets cancer is going to get an 11th hour miracle treatment, really? What exactly do you think the average persons impression of cancer prognosis and treatment is exactly?
- ekianjo 4y ago
  > The press needs to convey that not everyone who gets cancer is going to get an 11th hour miracle treatment, really? empathy matters

agumonkey 4y ago

It's almost unbelievable to read about quick and clean solutions like these for cancer (especially with long history of treatment and relapse). Very uplifting.