The Best Kind of News To Start the Day With!

Got a call from my doctor today about the PET/CT scan I had on Monday.

The Hodgkin’s disease (cancer of the lymph nodes) is still in remission.

This is the first time in 4 years that I’ve been fighting it that I’ve gone for more than 6 months without it coming back.

The wonder drug that finally got rid of it (and subsequently caused my immune system to attack my lungs) is called CTLA-4.

Basically it ramps up the immune system so that it will attack the cancer. What they hope will happen is a process called GVHD (Graph Vs Host Disease).

This is basically your immune system attacking foreign objects in your body. Think of a kidney transplant and how sometimes the kidney is rejected by the immune system. Well, that’s what GVHD is.

In the case of CTLA-4, the immune system is given an antibody that helps it recognize the cancer as a foreign object so that it can be attacked. Normally, most cancers will secrete a protein that will let them avoid detection by the immune system.

Anyhow, thats probably more info than you ever wanted to know about that subject but suffice it to say I am very, very happy!

G-Man

P.S. For all those who are fighting cancer in some way - hang in there, there is hope!