Robert Waag is alive and apparently cancer free
more than two years after advanced melanoma reached his lungs, hips and
other parts of his body - a feat only recently considered unthinkable
for such patients.
Waag, 77, is on the immunotherapy Keytruda, a new type of drug that enlists the body's defenses in the fight.
The first new immunotherapy drug for cancer was introduced in 2011,
so long-term efficacy is unknown. But the approach is showing promise.
Before these drugs, the prognosis for most patients with advanced
melanoma was a year at best.
In one study of Keytruda, 40 percent of such patients survived at least three years, and 10 percent showed no evidence of cancer.
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Source: NBC News
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