Anxiously Awaited Day

So here we are, April 2, a visit to the doctor's to get the results of all of yesterday's tests.  His liver function numbers were back to normal, his blood sugar is just about back too.  The MRI of the brain does not show any tumors but there was a spot that showed slowed blood flow.  Dr. Weber need to check that out with a neurologist.  It's usually a sign of a small stroke, but he didn't have one so it could just be age.  The main point is, no tumors.


The CT scan of the lungs shows that some tumors have stayed the same and some have shrunk.  The main purpose of the infusions was to stop the growth of tumors.  However, the tumors on the liver have grown.  One went from 7.1 cm to 8.1 cm and the other went from 4.6 cm to 6.1 cm, not good.  That leaves him with 3 options:


1.  He can do nothing for a month and scan them again to see if they have shrunk.  These infusions have been known to work slowly.  We don't like the idea of doing nothing for a month and neither did the doctor.


2.  Go into another clinical trial taking 2 different drugs in pill form and see where he's at in 8 weeks.


3.  Have the traditional melanoma treatment.


If he opts for the traditional treatment and that fails he cannot go for the clinical trial, but if he goes for the clinical trial and that does not work, he can go to the traditional treatment.  That is what Don chose, that gives him a Plan B and a Plan C.  The doctor agreed.  As soon as he gets more testing, and EKG, a biopsy and sees a dermatologist, he can start the medication.  He will be tested every week for 2 weeks after starting the medication, than every 2 weeks until he reaches week 8.  Then, depending how the drugs are working he will be tested every 4 weeks from week 8 to week 36, then it could go to every 3 months.


The drugs are Vemurafenib which is FDA approved and is currently being used by itself for metastatic melanoma.  The second is XL888, which is not FDA approved yet, this is why they are doing a clinical trial.  What this drug does is prevent the cancer from being resistant to the first drug.


Here's hoping.  Metastatic melanoma grows very fast, and if it wasn't for the first clinical trial, it would be far more advanced.