Immunotherapy & Melanoma
- In a new study published by JAMA Oncology, it was reported that some melanoma survivors who underwent immunotherapy had chronic, long-term effects, though the majority were not severe or life-threatening.
- Melanoma is a type of skin cancer and causes the majority of skin cancer deaths.
- Treatment options for melanoma include immunotherapy, surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.
Related: Immunotherapy for Melanoma Can Work, but Side Effects are a Risk
Read MoreUnderstanding Melanoma
Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that tends to be more severe. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), skin cancer is the most common among all types of cancers. And melanoma specifically accounts for only about 1% of skin cancers. However, melanoma causes the majority of skin cancer deaths. Treatment options for melanoma include immunotherapy, surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Related: A Father's 'Harmless' Freckle Turned Out to Be Melanoma; How to Protect Your Skin Year-RoundDermatologist Dr. Dendy Engelman says in an earlier interview, "It's a common misconception that people think they only have to protect their skin when they're in the bright, warm sunshine. But the reality is, we can get sun damage at any time throughout the year…even in the cold, wintry months. If we're unprotected for even fifteen minutes a day. If we think about the cumulative effects that has on our skin over a lifetime, it's very real."
Dr. Engelman compares caring for your skin to caring for other parts of the body. She says, "We protect our teeth all the time, every day, twice a day…That's the same concept as sunscreen. The more we do it, the more we're protected, the more our risk is limited."
Melanoma & Immunotherapy
The study published today by JAMA Oncology about melanoma and immunotherapy is important for those fighting the disease, and for their doctors. The study’s senior author, Dr. Douglas Johnson, associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and clinical director of melanoma at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, says, "Chronic and long-lasting side effects were more common than we expected and involved a variety of often overlooked organs like the thyroid, salivary glands and joints.”
Related: Blood Test Could Predict the Best Type of Treatment for Metastatic Melanoma
The side effects shouldn’t overshadow the fact that immunotherapy has revolutionized treatment of melanoma, Dr. Johnson says.
“I think the first thing to recognize is how really transformative the Anti-PD-1 drugs have been for patients with melanoma,” he says. “I don’t believe this study really should impact whether patients, certainly with metastatic disease should receive these kinds of therapies because certainly patients can have very long-term responses to treatment.”
Dr. Johnson explains how revolutionary immunotherapy has been for people with this disease. “It has been an absolute game-changer for patients with melanoma. I think wherever the more complicated situations come in are for some of these kinds of patients who have stage three melanoma, that’s been resected surgically, and they have, in some cases, a very low chance of the cancer coming back.”
He explains that one should, with their doctor, weigh the benefits of treatment against the long-term side effects of immunotherapy for melanoma patients. These side effects can include mild bodily changes like dry throat, inflammation of the blood vessels of the eye, and numbness or tingling.
“So determining whether the risks of the side effects, weighing the benefits of treatment with the risks of the side effects can be an important consideration,” Dr. Johnson says. “I think what our study did was we basically saw that some of these side effects were more common really than that had been previously reported.”
Side Effects from Immunotherapy Can be Managed
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