Michelle Boyer’s Immunotherapy Story

I was diagnosed with stage 3a melanoma on July 14, 2010, when I was 23. The cancer was removed surgically, but two years later returned in my lungs. Currently (2015) I am stage 4, with the cancer spread throughout my body. Since 2012, I’ve participated in several immunotherapy clinical trials.

I believe immunotherapy is my best chance for getting rid of my cancer. The first option for melanoma is surgery, which I had, but once it metastasized it had spread to too many places for that to work. I was told that if they tried it would turn my lungs into Swiss cheese… that may seem like a horrible thing to tell a patient, but I find it an apt and amusing comparison. Do all cancer patients end up with a slightly twisted sense of humor to survive? 🙂

My reading of current research and my doctors recommendations both supported trying immunotherapy first, so that’s where I’ve focused my treatment. So far I have had interleukin-2, ipilimumab (Yervoy) combined with IL-21, ipilimumab combined with radiation, IL-15, TIL therapy (chemo, followed by a TIL infusion, followed by IL-2), and currently am taking MPDL3280A (PD-L1) combined with cobimetinib (MEK inhibitor).

The exciting thing is that immunotherapy offers the possibility of a long term remission. What would you be willing to do for a chance at fifty more years of life?

Melanoma has low response rates to chemotherapy, and with so many promising new immunotherapy or targeted therapy drugs coming out I actually never gave chemotherapy a second thought. In my mind, as someone in my twenties, I have so many more years to live if one of these treatments does make my cancer disappear for the long term. I want to try whatever may have a chance of making that happen.

Although I may not be experiencing the stellar results some other patients have, I think the treatments have been worthwhile. The longer I manage to stick around the more likely it is that I may find some treatment that works. Of course, my first reason to continue trying new treatments is to try and find one that would produce a durable response. Beyond that I know so long as I’m in treatment my family and friends (and myself!) can hold on to at least a little thread of hope that the cancer will disappear. Hope makes life better.

But really, my cancer diagnosis hasn’t changed the core of who I am, though it certainly has made me mature quickly. I take the time to appreciate all the good things in life. My family is supportive in every way possible, and I have a handful of good friends that have stuck around. The most unexpected source of support since my cancer diagnosis has been my coworkers – they organize rides to appointments for me, give gifts, and provide emotional support. I feel truly fortunate to have so many wonderful people in my life.