Experimental Therapy Beats Back One Patient's Melanoma!!!!!!!!!

By Amanda Gardner, HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 18 2008 (HealthDay News) -- Patient "Number Four," taking part in an experimental melanoma treatment program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, was a very lucky man.

After receiving an infusion of his own, fortified immune system T cells, the man's melanoma, which had already spread to a lung and to a lymph node in his groin and had not responded to other therapies, went into complete remission.

Researchers reporting in the June 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine say this is the first time a patient's cloned T cells used alone have put an advanced solid-tumor cancer into complete remission.

The man was followed for two years, at which time he was still in remission. Doctors lost track of him after that.

"No way would we say this is a cure but he had a complete response and, fortunately, for him, it lasted longer than just a few months or weeks," said study senior author Dr. Cassian Yee, an associate member at Hutchinson's clinical research division.

"I don't think this represents any standard of care, but I view it as shining a light on the direction in which we perhaps should be heading," said Dr. Louis M. Weiner, director of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C. "It's giving us some insights into what the necessary conditions are for an anti-cancer immune response to be effective."

Immunotherapy, which engages a patient's own immune system to fight cancer, is an emerging art and science. The method holds the promise of being much less toxic than other treatments, though recent research has pointed out that it may not be as safe as once hoped.

Research shows several instances when a patient's own immune system kicked in to oust a cancer even without help from sophisticated new technologies. Dr. Vijay Trisal, assistant professor of surgical oncology at City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif., recounted two such cases: One, a woman whose melanoma had spread to her lungs, brain and other parts of her body, was stung by a bee and subsequently recovered not only from the bee sting but also from the cancer. Two, a man with advanced melanoma who stepped into a poison ivy patch and experienced a similar recovery.

Similar happenings have been recorded for other types of cancer.

"Maybe there were 10 cells in the body that were very good, sort of a smart bomb against the melanoma, but they weren't enough," Trisal explained. "The bee sting or poison ivy multiplied these smart bombs one thousand times so suddenly this army of 10 became an army of a billion."

And that is essentially what the authors of the new study did, collecting CD4+ T-cells from nine melanoma patients, isolating single cells that they believed would target a certain protein on the tumor cells, cultivating and enriching these cells, and then re-infusing them into the patient.

Patient Four, a 52-year-old man, received five billion cloned CD4+ T cells designed to go after the melanoma-associated NY-ESO-1 antigen. The new cells stayed in the patient's body for 80 days. Two months later, the man's melanoma was gone.

The man received a higher dose than the first three patients but the same or lower dose than the subsequent five patients. The first three had no response at all while the later patients saw some response, but none as dramatic as Patient Four.

"We don't know why he was the lucky one," Yee said. "Maybe it was something specific to him or his tumor. Maybe he had a low-level pre-existing response that we were able to augment."

And therein lies a major problem with immunotherapy as it exists now. "We know this works but it's a shot in the dark," Trisal said. "It works maybe in one in 100 people instead of one in 1,000 where the body itself fights the cancer."

The question is how to make the process more efficient and effective.

"Obviously there's a lot of promise for immunotherapy of this kind but I think that we're several years away from making this any kind of standard therapy," Yee said. At this point, the therapy needs to be standardized to the patient and it can take months to grow the required cells, during which time the patient's condition could deteriorate dramatically.

"It would be helpful to try to streamline the process," Yee said. "[Right now], we can only target a small fraction of patients. What we're looking for in the future is to streamline this process and decrease the time it takes to grow cells and to see if we can target other antigens. This is a proof of principle: Yes, we can use CD4+ clones."


WE ARE GETTING CLOSER TO A C U R E !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jIMMY b

11/13/2007 Meeting with Dr. Kirkwood

Sorry it has taken so long for me to write. I've been catching up on bills and Health Insurance elections, and Voice your choice on Electricity elections.

If you Rochesterians need to compare suppliers for the cheapest KWHour for your electric needs, you can logon at

www.energyguide.com/finder/ShowOffersUni.asp?NexusRCTarget=res&txtCustomerType=1&CalcType=NoBill&txtenergytype=1&txtWinterBill=&txtSummerBill=&util=116183NY&sort=rate#CompareYourBills.

I am currently in a holding pattern to see if my immune system will continue to fight off the cancer by itself.

The tumors in my lungs have shrunk to the point that they are undetectable by CT scan. (Praise the Lord).

I still have some at my original site but I am hoping that they too will disappear.
I do have new spot on my ankle that looks like basal carcinoma. I am planning to have it looked at by Dr. Brown dermatologist/oncologist at Strong Hospital. I need to make sure I have a referral first so I don’t get stuck with the bill.

I would like to take this time again to thank everyone for their continuing support. Without you, I could not have survived. You have been the rocks of my seawall. Without you, I would have been swept away into the storm.

Thanks for being there for me.

Jimmy B.

10/29/07 Good News !!!!!!!

The CT scan Report came back with “NO SUSPICIOUS PULMONARY NODULES” From 40 + to ZERO Nodules.

That is unbelievable!!!!!!!

This is like winning another lease on life.

THEY ARE GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am going down to Pittsburgh on November 5th to have a check up and to have a second reading of the Scans to be sure that they read it correctly.
I also will suggest a PET scan to see if there are any hot spots they have missed with the CT scan.
I do have a scab at the original site that bleeds off and on. I would like to know why it won’t heal.

I am not out of the woods yet… but I am on the right path.

Thanks for all your help and prayers.

Jimmy B.

10/26/2006 Finals Week… Tests are completed. Yeh!!!!!!

I just finished my Nuclear (Thallium) Stress Test.

A nuclear stress test lets doctors see pictures of your heart while you are resting and shortly after you have exercised. The test can give information about the size of the heart's chambers, how well the heart is pumping blood, and whether the heart has any damaged or dead muscle. Nuclear stress tests can also give doctors information about your arteries and whether they might be narrowed or blocked because of coronary artery disease.

How does it work?

This test is almost the same as the exercise stress test, except doctors will give you a small amount of a radioactive substance just before the end of the exercise part of the test. This radioactive substance is not harmful to your body or your organs.The results of the nuclear stress test can show doctors if the heart is not working properly while you are resting, exercising, or both. If the test shows that blood flow is normal while you are resting but not normal while you are exercising, then doctors know that your blood flow to your heart is not adequate during times of stress. The heart normally pumps more blood during times of physical exertion. If the test results are not normal during both parts of the test (rest and exercise), part of your heart is permanently deprived of blood or is scarred. If doctors cannot see the radioactive substance in one part of your heart, it probably means that section of heart muscle has died, either because of a previous heart attack or because the coronary arteries supplying blood to that area of the heart are blocked.

The other two tests were CT Scan and the Pulmonary Function Tests. I gave you the results for the CT scan. I think I passed the Pulmonary Function Tests.
Pulmonary function tests are tests performed to make measurements of how your lungs and airways function. Results from pulmonary function tests enable your physician to evaluate your breathing, make diagnosis, recommend treatment and follow your progress.DLCO – Lung Diffusion Capacity TestingThis test measures how well gases (oxygen) move through the lung and into the bloodstream. I got an 88 out of a possible 100. Hey a b+ isn’t bad.

Waiting to get approval for IL-2 treatment

Jimmy B.

10/25/2006 Major Set Back!!!!!

Yesterday while at the Rochester Oncologist (Dr. Pandya) office we received bad news. The cancer is spreading in my lungs quite rapidly according to the CT scans. There are now over 40 nodules ranging from 15 mm down to < 5 mm. No wonder I been having shortness of breath. I thought it was my lack of exercise. Dr. Pandya gives my prognosis a poor rating. I guess I won’t be getting a raise this year.
I have started the long term disability process with disbelief. My fight is not over for a long shot. I just need to speed up my trials to find the right one. I will be contacting Dr. Kirkwood today to see where we stand on the Molecular Profiling route. I feel I am in the race of life and second place is not an option. I am going for the Gold.

Stay tune things may get very interesting.

Take care

Jimmy B.

8/21/06 It was the night before taking the trip and all through the house. Page 1

My daughter had taken the car to her boyfriends’s house. So, before I went to bed, I left the hallway light on. I was anticipating that Jessica would turn off the light before she went to bed. Well, I was wrong. I awoke at 2:15 am to go to the bathroom and the light was still on. So I called her on her cell phone a couple of times, but no one answered. I thought she had fallen asleep at Dave’s house. So I tried a half hour later. To make a long story short, Jessica was in bed but had forgotten to turn off the light. Moral of the story, check the driveway to see if the car is there or check the bedroom to see if Jessica is there. I was worrying over nothing. So as you can read, I didn’t get a good night’s rest before the trip to Pittsburgh.

I got up at 3:50 am. Showered, shaved and made a pot of coffee. Had a bowl of cheerios with blueberries on top .By the time I got out the door, it was 4:50 am. There was hint of autumn in the cool air. Dew was on everything. I knew that I would be running into fog and morning mist along the way. The trip went quite well. Traffic was very light until I got to the city limits of Pittsburgh.

I arrived at about 9:30 am and went directly to the second floor to sign in. The place was packed. It looked like airport terminal on a Monday morning with all of the commuters waiting to reach their destination. There was a line just to sign in, and most of the seats in the waiting room were full. I knew from that moment, that it was going to be a long day. Thinking ahead, I brought my emergency knapsack. It contains, my folders, pens, reading material. But this time I added drinks, chips, a sandwich and a bag of half frozen blueberry muffins to hand out to the staff. I like to give them a treat every once in a while. They tend to look forward to seeing me and I like getting all that attention. Hey!! When it works it works and they don’t bite the hand that feeds them. Oh!, I forgot to tell you that I packed a tape recorder also. Dee always asks questions about what the doctor’s say. Usually I forget things. So now I just have to play back the tape. Boy, it makes my life easier.

So first, they draw my blood and then sent me to concourse D. The Hillman Center reminds me of JFK Airport. With all of it’s little hubs. At concourse D, I pass on my charts to the receptionist that doubles as a nurse practioner. She takes my weight, temperature and vital signs. All seem normal. She then sends me back to waiting room. Within 15 to 30 minutes I get the call. I follow the nurse to the examination room. It is now about 10:30 going on 11:00 am. The first person that stops in is a new physician assistant student, Michele. She first asks me about my medical history. I give her the condensed version. She asks me to take off the gown. You know which one. The one that you are suppose to tie in the back which I could never do. She gives me the once over and checks my tumors.

Next, Melissa walks in and starts telling me what they had found on the scans and the CT report. I quickly stop her and proceed to turn on the recorder. She asks, “Should I start over from the beginning?” I said, “Definitely yes. Dee would kill me if I didn’t get it all on tape.” Here the scoop. The tumors on my back got a little bit larger. My lungs have more spots on them then the scan before. This is an indication that the decarbazine treatment is not working. It may have slowed down the progression, but the tumors continued to grow. The previous spots on my lung have doubled in size.