tkwalker
02-27-2020, 03:41 PM
Hi folks, well here is the latest skinny on the clinical trial. I found out I was cleared to be a candidate before I arrived ... The whole question was did I want to be ! .. I am presently reading 33 pages of consent and side effects. There are two med's made by Bristol-Myers-Squibb (BMS) that is on trial and of coarse there is always the placebo that is computer coded and only BMS knows who has received it. The purpose of the study is to test the effectiveness, safety,and tolerability of the drugs.
The two drugs are OPDIVO* (nivolumab) and Yervoy* (lpilmumab) (*Trade Marked). This is called Immunotherapy it works by encouraging the body's own immune system to attack cancer cells. There are 800 participants in the study from the USA, European Union, and Japan. The US has an allotment for 173 subjects, Vanderbilt's allotment is 4 subjects. I being one of the four. I think one reason I was chosen is because My tumor on the Kidney was an aggressive Sarcomatoid cancer which is highly unusual to attack the kidneys. Less than 2%. Also because I had the kidney removed, They call it Radical Nephrectomy. Which made me cancer free as of my last body CT Scan and my health is relative good for my age ... Now my Knees and Rotatory cuffs is a different matter. :eek: After the research is over I hope to have the knees replaced...
Treatments consist of a lot of MRI and CT Scans screenings to track the progress as well as blood samples. There will be 12 (IV) sessions, one every 2 weeks with followups from 1 to 5 and possibly up to 10 years.. Well the bottom line is yea, I'm going to do it... I'll let you know periodically how it's going ... I'll start next week... TK
The two drugs are OPDIVO* (nivolumab) and Yervoy* (lpilmumab) (*Trade Marked). This is called Immunotherapy it works by encouraging the body's own immune system to attack cancer cells. There are 800 participants in the study from the USA, European Union, and Japan. The US has an allotment for 173 subjects, Vanderbilt's allotment is 4 subjects. I being one of the four. I think one reason I was chosen is because My tumor on the Kidney was an aggressive Sarcomatoid cancer which is highly unusual to attack the kidneys. Less than 2%. Also because I had the kidney removed, They call it Radical Nephrectomy. Which made me cancer free as of my last body CT Scan and my health is relative good for my age ... Now my Knees and Rotatory cuffs is a different matter. :eek: After the research is over I hope to have the knees replaced...
Treatments consist of a lot of MRI and CT Scans screenings to track the progress as well as blood samples. There will be 12 (IV) sessions, one every 2 weeks with followups from 1 to 5 and possibly up to 10 years.. Well the bottom line is yea, I'm going to do it... I'll let you know periodically how it's going ... I'll start next week... TK