PD-L1 / PD-1 could be the breakthrough we all have been waiting for. Everything I’ve heard or researched so far looks very promising. I am writing about PD-L1 / PD-1 today for more of an awareness verses treatment option. I say that because PD-L1 / PD-1 is still in clinical trial stages and is only being tested for certain cancers like melanoma. But all the results so far have been really great.
PD-L1 / PD-1 has very minimal side effects
In the melanoma study 52 % of patients had tumor shrinkage. These results have been the strongest ever seen in melanoma trials so far. Not only that but the response’s are looking to be durable as well. Unexpected responses have also been seen in non-small-cell lung cancer, renal-cell cancer, kidney cancer, and breast cancer. Side effects have been very minimal when comparing them to other conventional treatments which in itself is amazing.
Clinical trials are available
Clinical trials are being conducted now so go to http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials and see what is available. At the very least keep this in the back of your mind and know it exists. It’s not an active option for everyone at this point but could be down the line. It might just change how we look and treat cancer in the future.
Update: Since writing this article Melanoma has been approved to be treated with this drug. I will be listing all updates here as soon as they are available. Check back often.
Update: President Carter is cancer free after being treated with Keytruda for metastasized Melanoma. The President received both Keytruda and radiation therapy.
Get a very simple overview of how Anti-PD-1 works.
PubMed Anti-PD-1 Abstracts
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2 Comments
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What treatment options for metastatic breast cancer, neg. nodes involvement, her2 plus, negative hormone involvement, metastasis to liver and bone.
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Author
Hi Js,
Overall immunotherapy drugs like Anti-PD-L1 have not produced high response rates for breast cancer like other cancer types have experienced. Response rates range from 5% to about 15% for breast cancer patients. However, immunotherapy might still be something to look deeper into. Here is a link with more information about early breast cancer study results with Avelumab (anti-PD-L1) and Pembrolizumab (Keytruda anti-PD-1).
Hope that helps
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