Vaccine-Based Immunotherapy from Novel Nanoparticle Systems. Researchers at the Texas Center for Cancer Nanomedicine (TCCN) are creating particle-based vaccines for cancer therapy. The particles carry molecules that stimulate immune cells and cancer… — Vaccine-Based Immunotherapy from Novel Nanoparticle Systems. Researchers at the Texas Center for Cancer Nanomedicine (TCCN) are creating particle-based vaccines for cancer therapy. The particles carry molecules that stimulate immune cells and cancer antigens (proteins) that direct the immune response. This scanning electron microscope image shows dendritic cells, pseudo-colored in green, interacting with T cells, pseudo-colored in pink. The dendritic cells internalize the particles, process the antigens, and present peptides to T cells to direct immune responses. Source: National Cancer Institute

Why?

How?

Those two words tend to haunt you when you have cancer.

Why me?

How did this happen?

Why now?

How will I survive this?

I often caught myself wondering what would have happened if I caught my cancer earlier. By the time I was diagnosed and staged in late 2017, I was stage 3 and experiencing a lot of severe symptoms.

Where would I be now, if we caught this sooner?

Two years ago, on November 27, 2017, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma. Just as the holiday season was kicking off and I was about to celebrate my 32nd birthday, my world was turned upside down.

A month earlier I had found a suspicious swollen lymph node by my collarbone. I decided to see my primary doctor after monitoring it for a few weeks. A series of bloodwork and CT scans determined I had severely swollen lymph nodes throughout my neck and chest. My primary doctor advised that I follow up with an ENT to schedule a surgery to remove the suspicious lymph node to have it checked for lymphoma.

I was told it could wait until after the holidays, but deep down I knew I was seriously ill, and I knew the chances were high that I had lymphoma. I decided to get it removed and checked right away, rather than wait until the holidays passed. On November, 22 2017, the day before Thanksgiving, I had surgery to remove the lymph node.

A week later, just days before my 32nd birthday, I received a call from my doctor informing me the biopsy confirmed I had Nodular Sclerosis Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Hodgkin lymphoma is cancer of the lymphatic system, which is part of your immune system. It affects people of any age, but is most common in 20 and 40 years old and those over 55.

I was reassured by my surgeon that “It’s a highly treatable; even curable cancer.” However, lymphoma is not treatable through surgery. The standard treatment is chemotherapy. Immediately I began researching the standard course of treatment for lymphoma. I am fortunate to live in the Chicago metro area, so I had easy access to some of the nation’s’ top hospitals and leading cancer treatment centers.

As I began to research my treatment options. I was drawn to Northwestern after seeing the success of former Chicago Blackhawk Eddie Olczyk had with his treatment for his Stage 3 colon cancer earlier that year. I was fortunate to get connected to an oncologist at Lurie Cancer Center who has specialized in treating lymphoma for more than 20 years. She immediately put me at ease when she looked me in the eye and said, “my job as your oncologist is not to just treat your lymphoma, but to cure you.”

Northwestern’s Lurie Cancer Center is a nationwide leader in cancer treatment and offers a variety of clinical trials. After reviewing my biopsy results and bloodwork, my oncologist determined I was a good candidate for their new clinical trial for front-line immunotherapy followed by a reduced chemotherapy regimen.

How Immunotherapy Works

Immunotherapy enhances your immune system’s ability to detect, target and eliminate cancer. According to the Cancer Research Institute, immunotherapy can target cancer cells wherever they are in the body, making it a potential universal cancer treatment.

There are several different types of immunotherapies and each works in a slightly different way to help improve your immune response. The type of immunotherapy I had is called immune checkpoint therapy because it helps strengthen the body’s cancer-fighting T cells’ ability to detect and eliminate cancer cells. Many immunotherapy treatments can also be used in combination with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or targeted therapies to improve their effectiveness.

Immunotherapy vs. Standard Lymphoma Treatment

The standard approach for treating Hodgkin Lymphoma is ABVD chemo, followed by radiation if necessary. As part of this clinical trial, my treatment would differ from the standard approach to treating lymphoma.

Instead of attacking my cancer right away with four aggressive chemotherapy drugs, I was given three separate infusions of Keytruda (pembrolizumab) immunotherapy over the course of three months before beginning chemotherapy. Because I was starting treatment with immunotherapy, instead of chemotherapy. I was given AVD chemo—omitting the bleomycin chemotherapy drug that is slowly being phased out of treatment due to its pulmonary side effects.

Immunotherapy Results

By my second infusion of Keytruda immunotherapy, I could feel a positive change in my body and a reduction in my symptoms. My chest started to feel more clear and I felt my energy improve. I did not experience any hair loss or other concerning symptoms during my three infusions of Keytruda.

In early March of 2018, before I began chemotherapy, I had a scan to check the effectiveness of the immunotherapy infusions. The scans showed, exactly what I was already feeling and experiencing in my body—my cancer was nearly gone. My PET scan showed I only had a few more spots left in my chest that the chemotherapy would hopefully target.

The scan on the left shows my immunotherapy results as of 3/8/18. The previous scan on the right was taken in late December 2017. In just three months of immunotherapy treatment, you can see a huge difference in my neck region (on left) I also had … — The scan on the left shows my immunotherapy results as of 3/8/18. The previous scan on the right was taken in late December 2017. In just three months of immunotherapy treatment, you can see a huge difference in my neck region (on left) I also had some cancerous activity in my arm pits and spleen which is also GONE! Just some slight cancerous activity remained in my chest. Very exciting results! After 6 cycles, 12 AVD chemo treatments, I was NED and am currently in remission as of 5/1/2018 .

Combination Immunotherapy-Chemotherapy Results

I began 6 cycles, 12 treatments of AVD chemotherapy in March of 2018. By my 2nd cycle or fourth treatment of chemotherapy, I began experiencing more severe hair loss. I also had a lot of severe nausea and low-appetite during chemo. To help keep my white blood cells up during treatment I did Granix injections at-home after every treatment.

At my midway scan during chemo, my PET showed no evidence of disease. I was officially in remission as of May 1, 2018. However, although I was in remission, I still had to finish all 12 treatments of chemotherapy.

I finished treatment on August 9, 2018 and am still currently in remission.

My next scan is scheduled for mid-March and if that is clear I will be celebrating being two years cancer-free on May 1st, 2020.

Immunotherapy Effectiveness and Side Effects

Immunotherapy is an exciting new treatment because it has the potential to provide long-term control of cancer.

Clinical studies on long-term overall survival have shown that the beneficial responses to cancer immunotherapy treatment can be long-lasting— continuing even long after treatment is completed.

Immunotherapy can “train” the immune system to not only detect but also remember cancer cells. This “immunomemory” may result in longer-lasting and potentially permanent protection against cancer recurrence.

Immunotherapies have been approved in the United States to treat a variety of cancers and are prescribed to patients by oncologists or available via clinical trials.

However, Immunotherapy doesn’t always work for every patient, and certain types of immunotherapy are associated with potentially severe but manageable side effects ranging from minor inflammation and flu-like symptoms, to major, potentially life-threatening conditions similar to autoimmune disorders. Common side effects may include skin reactions, mouth sores, fatigue, nausea, body aches, headaches, and changes in blood pressure.

Sharing My Immunotherapy Success

Just six months after a Stage 3 cancer diagnosis, immunotherapy helped me reach remission.

Getting diagnosed with cancer, was one of the worst things to happen to me and my family. But it turns out I was diagnosed at just the right time because it gave me the opportunity to be one of the first patients in my immunotherapy trial.

I hope that by sharing my story of immunotherapy success I can help encourage others to explore their treatment options, and give the newly diagnosed and other cancer fighters hope for remission, no matter where they are in their journey.