Understanding Immunotherapy Treatment
- Teddi Mellencamp, who previously underwent 17 diagnoses of melanoma, is embarking on immunotherapy treatment in her ongoing cancer battle after a recent surgery to remove brain tumors led to the discovery of more tumors in her brain and lungs.
- Immunotherapy has emerged as a vital advancement in cancer treatment by stimulating the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells.
- If you want to get immunotherapy or learn more about it, ask your cancer doctor. They can tell you if immunotherapy can help you, what it does, and how to get ready for it. Look for research studies that test immunotherapy. You may be able to join a clinical that gives immunotherapy for your cancer. You can find current trials here.
- it’s unclear what exact type of immunotherapy treatment Mellencamp is undergoing, but check point inhibitors have improved the treatment options for many people with solid tumors. These drugs work by stopping the immune system from turning off before the cancer is completely eliminated. While, thankfully, remarkable results can arise from these drugs, they do not work for everyone.
Mellencamp, a mom to three children she shares with her estranged husband Edwin Arroyave, recently underwent surgery after multiple brain tumors were found in her brain. However, since the tumors weren’t all able to be removed, she is started immunotherapy treatment this week.
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Mellencamp explained in her most recent Instagram post, “Update from my scans today: I have multiple tumors in my brain that weren’t able to be removed via surgery. I also have 2 tumors in my lungs. These are all metastases of my melanoma.
“The doctors are hopeful that immunotherapy will effectively treat them. I am feeling positive— that I will win this battle, that I got this wig (I like the short hair, just not the bald spots), and that I can remember all of Angelina’s kids’ names.”
She concluded, “Now, as @bravoandy would say: with all due… f*** off, cancer!”
Expert Resources On Immunotherapy Treatment
- ‘A Game Changer’: New Combination Immunotherapy for Advanced Melanoma Offers More Options For Patients
- After Immunotherapy, Imaging Test Results Can Be Misleading
- An Exciting Win for Immunotherapy
- Beating Aggressive Melanoma: An Immunotherapy Success Story
- Fighting Cancer With the Body’s Own Cells: The Immunotherapy Revolution
- Getting More People Access to Immunotherapy — A Very Personal Mission For Pharma Executive Adam Lenkowsky
- Immunotherapy Helps Your Body Help Itself
- Immunotherapy for Melanoma Can Work, but Side Effects are a Risk
Mellencamp, who previously had 17 diagnoses of melanoma—a type of skin cancer that starts in the same cells that give your skin, hair, and eyes their color.
Last month, following her surgery, Mellencamp informed her social media followers, “I am so grateful for the incredible surgeons, doctor, and nurses who made my surgery a success and my recovery process comfortable. In full transparency, more tumors were removed than expected: 4 in total. This fight is not over, but that round has been won.
“The laughter, support, and patience of my kids, my family, and my closest friends is one gift with which words cannot properly express my gratitude.”
She concluded, “As I move on to the next steps in my treatment, I just wanted to say thank you to everybody for the outpouring of love and prayers. I see them, and they’re definitely helping me stay strong.”
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Before her brain tumors were discovered, Mellencamp was diagnosed with stage 0 melanoma back in March 2022. Then in October of that year, after keeping up with her skin checks, she was diagnosed with stage 2.
Since then she’s had a total of 17 cancer growths removed.
Last year, Mellencamp opened up about undergoing surgery to get cancer removed from her back following an unsuccessful immunotherapy treatment.
RELATED: Continued melanoma treatment after surgery.
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She previously took to her Instagram story to warn fans, “This is just a reminder to all of you guys. Go get your skin checked. I was talking to someone the other day and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I tan easily, blah blah blah. So, I’m not prone to it.'”
Mellencamp added, ”Anyhoo, I know that sometimes going to get things checked or booking your appointments can create uneasiness in us but it is so worth it,” according to People.
WATCH: What Is Mohs Surgery?
Melanoma starts in the same cells that give your skin, hair, and eyes their color. In melanoma, the cells change in a way that allows them to spread to other organs.
Changes to a mole you’ve had for a while or a new growth on your skin could be signs of melanoma.
You’re most likely to find melanoma on sun-exposed skin areas like your face, neck, arms, and legs. Surprisingly, you might also find them in other places as well, like:
- The palms of your hands or soles of your feet
- On your eyes or mouth
- Under your nails
The top way to protect yourself is by staying out of the sun, especially during peak hours, and avoiding unprotected sun exposure because ultraviolet (UV) radiation can lead to melanoma.
Immunotherapy — A Game-Changer
A type of treatment called immunotherapy that has taken center stage in cancer treatment over the past decade.
Immunotherapy uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer cells. It boosts or changes the immune system, enabling it to detect and destroy cancer more effectively.
“Up until now, there’s been three pillars of cancer therapy– surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy,” Dr. Jim Allison, the chair of the department of immunology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX, previously told SurvivorNet.
“Immunotherapy is rather unique in that for the first time, we’re getting truly curative therapies in many kinds of disease… it works in many different kinds of cancers.”
Watch: Dr. Jim Allison explains how immunotherapy works
Dr. Allison won a Nobel Prize for his work on how to make the body’s own cells fight cancer. His studies showed that blocking a part of the cell called CTLA-4 removed a brake on the immune system, allowing it to attack cancer more effectively. He went on to develop immunotherapies that have helped save the lives of people living with skin cancer and other cancers.
Fighting Cancer With the Body’s Own Cells: The Immunotherapy Revolution
“Immunotherapy originally started as being an indication for patients who had stage four disease,” Dr. Anna Pavlick, a medical oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, tells SurvivorNet.
“In the beginning, we began trying to make vaccines to try to trick the immune system into attacking a protein that we thought was important in the cancer. These vaccines for cancer almost never worked. The problem was the cancer was using a different track of the immune system to block it from attacking,” Dr. Ronald Natale, director of the Lung Cancer Clinical Research Program at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, told SurvivorNet.
“Well, scientists developed treatments, antibodies that would block PD-L1 from blocking the immune system. This unleashed the immune system to resume its attack on the cancer very successfully, at least in some patients,” Dr. Natale added.
“We have now done studies looking at using immunotherapy for patients who have stage three disease. Because we know that these patients have a 50/50 chance of whether this is going to come back or not, we want to make those odds of it coming back even less. But it is not chemotherapy. It does not bring down your immune system. It does not predispose patients to infection. It does not make them lose their hair,” Dr. Pavlick continued.
WATCH: Why immunotherapy Isn’t for Everyone
However, immunotherapy doesn’t work for everyone with cancer. Dr. Vamsidhar Velcheti, the director of thoracic oncology at NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center, says that, unfortunately, it’s still difficult to predict which patients will respond well to immunotherapy treatments.
“The ways cancer generally escapes the body’s immune system is by protecting itself by producing certain proteins,” said Dr. Velcheti.
“PD-L1 is one of those proteins that actually helps protect the cancer from the body’s immune system. For patients with high levels of PD-L1, you could potentially use single-agent immunotherapy with good outcomes. The problem is that these proteins are constantly in flux.”
Types of Immunotherapy
It’s important to understand that immunotherapy comes in many different forms, each with their unique approach to strengthening the immune system and attacking cancer cells. Understanding the various types of immunotherapy can help patients and their families make informed decisions about their treatment options. Below, we list the main types of immunotherapy:
- Checkpoint Inhibitors: These drugs work by blocking certain proteins that prevent the immune system from recognizing and attacking cancer cells. Checkpoint inhibitors essentially “release the brakes” on the immune system, allowing it to more effectively combat cancer cells, as per the National Cancer Institute Examples of checkpoint inhibitors include pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and nivolumab (Opdivo).
- T-cell Transfer Therapy: This approach involves collecting and enhancing a patient’s own immune cells, specifically T-cells, outside of the body and then reinfusing them back into the patient. These enhanced T-cells are better equipped to recognize and target cancer cells1. One example of T-cell transfer therapy is Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy.
- Cancer Vaccines: Cancer vaccines help stimulate the immune system to attack specific cancer-causing agents or cancer cells. Some vaccines, like the HPV vaccine, can help prevent certain cancers, while others like the sipuleucel-T (Provenge) vaccine are used to treat existing cancers, the American Cancer Society explains.
- Monoclonal Antibodies: These laboratory-created proteins can be designed to target specific parts of cancer cells or other substances that contribute to cancer growth. Monoclonal antibodies can have various roles, such as blocking cancer cell growth, preventing the formation of new blood vessels, or delivering toxic substances directly to cancer cells. Examples include rituximab (Rituxan) and trastuzumab (Herceptin).
- Immune System Modulators: These drugs work by enhancing the immune system’s overall ability to fight cancer. Modulators come in different types, such as cytokines, which are proteins that help regulate the immune system, or small molecules that help stimulate immune responses1. Examples of immune system modulators include interferon and interleukin-2 (IL-2).
The choice of which immunotherapy is best suited for a patient depends on various factors, such as the type of cancer, the stage of the disease, and the patient’s overall health. In some cases, multiple forms of immunotherapy may be combined or used alongside traditional treatments like chemotherapy or radiation to achieve the best possible outcome. It is essential to have an open and informed conversation with your healthcare team to determine which immunotherapy options are most appropriate for your situation.
What Do Checkpoint Inhibitors Do For Cancer?
More On Immunotherapy
If you want to get immunotherapy or learn more about it, here are some steps you can take:
Ask your cancer doctor. They can tell you if immunotherapy can help you, what it does, and how to get ready for it.
Look for research studies that test immunotherapy. You may be able to join a clinical that gives immunotherapy for your cancer. You can find current trials here.
Read more about people who have tried immunotherapy. You can learn from their stories, challenges, and tips.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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