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Breakthroughs in immunotherapy have led to longer
lasting treatments, and even cures, for many different types of cancer.
Many cancer patients who participated in early immunotherapy clinical
trials have become patient pioneers. They have lived far beyond the limited
prognoses their oncologists initially gave them and entered an unexplored,
and largely untold, realm of the cancer survivorship experience.
In this webinar for patients and caregivers,
three CRI ImmunoAdvocates discuss redefining and navigating their lives
after immunotherapy. Guest moderator Kristin Kleinhofer (leukemia) speaks
to Brendan Connors (melanoma) and Sunshine Pegues (lung cancer) about their
unique cancer survivorship experiences, including the management of
long-term side effects, continued self-advocacy and self-education, and
their long-lasting relationships with their health care teams.
- What does the
word "survivorship" mean to you?
- What has the
word “cure” come to mean to you in the context of your journey?
- How does it
feel to know that through your clinical trials you were part of
important work that led to the approvals of immunotherapies that now
benefits many others?
- What have been
the greatest challenges you have faced that you didn’t expect during
immunotherapy treatment or since?
In August 2010, Kristin Kleinhofer was diagnosed with
acute lymphoblastic leukemia and began a two-year journey of inpatient,
intense chemotherapy that ultimately failed to keep her in remission. In
2014, at the recommendation of her doctor, she enrolled in phase 1 clinical
trial of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy and has been in
remission ever since.
In May 2010, Brendan Connors was diagnosed with
metastatic melanoma. After surgery, he underwent two separate immunotherapy
clinical trials. He has been in remission for almost ten years.
In 2011, Sunshine
Pegues was diagnosed with stage 4 non-small cell lung
cancer. After her initial harsh and ineffective treatment with standard
chemotherapy, she enrolled in two clinical trials. The second trial tested
nivolumab (Opdivo), an anti-PD-1 immunotherapy, which stopped her cancer
from progressing and eventually, caused it to become inactive.
The "Cancer
Immunotherapy and You" Patient Education Webinar Series
is produced by the Cancer Research Institute and hosted by our senior
science writer, Arthur Brodsky, Ph.D. This webinar is made possible with
generous support from Bristol Myers Squibb and Alkermes.
The webinar series is part of the Cancer Research
Institute Answer to Cancer Patient Education Program. Browse our Cancer
Immunotherapy and You Webinar Series playlist on YouTube or visit
the Webinars page on our website to see other installments in this
series.
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