Just finished the vaccine trial for 3 nodules in my lungs.I had the vaccines every 3 weeks over a 4 month period.I did not experience any side effects from the vaccine.They give you 8 shots per visit, 2 in each arm and 2 in each leg.They inject where the lymph nodes are in your arms and legs,in the upper area of arms and legs. The needles do not hurt, actually they are so tiny they just feel like a little pressure once injected.
Saw my oncologist yesterday.He said I had mixed results. The best news was that the largest nodule did shrink,Woo hoo! Could see the shrinkage by viewing the ct scans from Feb and comparing them to the April ct scans,that was so wonderful seeing that the nodule shrank. It appeared that the 2 smaller nodules showed some growth. Oncologist said sometimes we will see what appears to be growth because of inflammation. The vaccine drug is attacking the nodule and it can cause inflammation. Hopefully that is the case.We will scan again in 7 to 8 weeks.My oncologist said it looks promising,I'll update the group after my next scan.
Hi Mary, I did the same trial. Although my blood work shows a great response, my two tumors continued to grow. My Dr said be wasn't sure what to make of the mixed results, but feels the vaccine may be fighting the cancer in spite of the tumor growth. I'm going to have stereotactic body radiotherapy (sbrt) to kill the tumors. The docs feel I have a good chance of a few years of Ned between the radiation and the vaccine.
Sheryl
My latest scan showed that although the two tumors are still shrinking, I now have three new nodules. I'm starting trabectedin tomorrow to see if it can keep the buggers at bay for a while.