Happy Summer

Things are going very well for me and I have been very busy...almost too busy and that is the reason behind the scarcity of posts. But the treatment that I had last year has been in the news in the last month with the publication of an article about the results of the Phase I trial  in the journal Science Translational Medicine.  This treatment really holds promise for stage 4 melanoma patients, especially young ones who can withstand the difficult treatment. Stereotactic body radiation (which targets tumors without irradiating healthy tissue) is given three days before the start of IL-2. It increased the response rate from 10 to 15% to over 70%!  Randomized Phase II trials are going on right now with a larger group of patients. I was so fortunate to have been in the right place at the right time to be given this treatment without qualifying for the trial. I am considered in partial remission and if my scans in August are clear I will be considered to be in complete remission. I will keep you posted.

(The photo is of a lovely sunset from my window of my Willamette View apartment in Portland)