Brigette Douglass' journey through uveal melanoma involved experimental treatments and clinical trials that have helped her live longer.
- Brigette Douglass, initially mistaking her vision loss for a migraine, learned she had uveal melanoma, a rare and fast-spreading form of eye cancer.
- Douglass received an innovative plaque brachytherapy at Wills Eye Hospital and participation in a clinical trial for the drug, Kimmtrak.
- Despite facing the spread of the cancer six years post-treatment that required additional treatment, Douglass has stayed positive.
- Though an aggressive cancer, there are new treatments for uveal melanoma that are helping patients like Douglass live longer and with better quality of life.
Brigette Douglass was living a quiet, happy life with her husband and two kids near Washington. D.C. Then, in 2009, everything changed.
Douglass was on a flight home after a business meeting when suddenly she lost sight in her left eye.
Read More“I’m sorry my dear, I can’t reattach it. I believe you have ocular melanoma,” she remembers the doctor telling her as he patted heron the shoulder.
A concerning diagnosis
Ocular melanoma is a rare and aggressive cancer that affects different parts of the eye. Douglass was diagnosed with a form of the disease known as uveal melanoma, which specifically targets the uvea, the eye’s middle layer.
Uveal is the most common type within ocular melanoma, making up about 85-90% of all cases. But even so, only about 2500 people a year get the diagnosis in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society.
“It is a disease that happens the most frequently in Caucasians and it happens in patients with hazel, green, or blue eyes more frequently than brown eyes … though we’re not clear of the mechanism that protects darker iris individuals from melanoma,” says Dr. Sapna Patel, a medical oncologist and director of the uveal melanoma program at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Dr. Patel notes that uveal melanoma is not caused by sun exposure. She stresses the importance of having your eyes checked on a regular basis to check for changes and irregularities even if you don’t need glasses or corrective lenses.
RELATED: What is Uveal Melanoma
Help and hope
Douglass says she is forever grateful that her doctors advised against doing an internet deep dive on her condition. They were concerned that learning about how rapidly the cancer grows and its potential for serious complications might shake her faith.
Most sources quote an 70-80% survival rate five years after diagnosis. However, uveal melanoma has a high risk of metastasizing, or spreading, to other organs, especially the liver. When it does, it drastically reduces the chance of long term survival.
The doctor told Douglass she might not live to see her daughter, who was a high school senior, graduate. But she says she never believed that.
Thanks to a pioneering approach to the treatment of uveal melanoma, Douglass not only lived to see her daughter graduate from high school, she’s seen both her kids graduate from college and get married. Her daughter is now a doctor and about to make Douglass a grandmother.
Douglass’ treatment began at the Wills Eye Hospital, a renowned hospital in Philadelphia that specializes in treating eye conditions. A key part of her treatment was a technique called plaque brachytherapy, which is a precise and targeted form of radiation therapy. Doctors surgically placed a small “plaque”, resembling a tiny bottle on the outside part of her eye, directly over the tumor. The plaque contained radioactive “seeds” that focused the radiation on the tumor while minimizing any damage to the surrounding healthy tissue.
RELATED: Advances in Uveal Melanoma Treatment
Six years after her initial treatment, Douglass discovered her cancer had spread. She had liver surgery to remove some small tumors. The cancer returned the following spring.
As part of her ongoing treatment, Douglass also enrolled in a clinical trial for a novel drug that attacks GP 100, a protein found at high levels in melanoma cells. The drug, called Kimmtrak (tebentafusp-tebn), is given through an IV for several hours at a time. It targets GP 100 and helps the immune system recognize and destroy cancer cells.
Some large clinical trials suggest that Kimmtrak improves the chances of survival for patients with uveal melanoma. It’s been shown to shrink tumor size, helping to restore vision and reduce pain and inflammation. Some patients do experience side effects such as fever, rash, itching, nausea, headache, and low blood pressure. A few have reported more serious side effects including organ damage, allergic reactions, and breathing problems.
But Douglass, who has been on the drug for the past seven years, doesn’t mention the drug having any negative impact on her life. As she moved through to more advanced clinical trials, her therapy has become more streamlined and less time-consuming.
RELATED: Clinical Trail Finder
More life ahead
Throughout her treatment journey, Douglass’ resilience has shone through. She thinks of herself as a positive person – and that’s an attitude she’s maintained even in the face of her diagnosis.
She’s also confident that if she stops responding to her current treatment, there will be other life-saving avenues for her to try.
“…and for me, that gives me a lot of hope that they’re developing the next drug because if this drug for me doesn’t work, I know that there’s at least six other treatments I might try,” she tells SurvivorNet. “I just say hey, you’ve done this for seven years, or you’ve done this for 10 years, let’s try something new. There is something new out there.”
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