Xiomara Goicochea was eight months pregnant when she was diagnosed with malignant melanoma.
"It was really hard because I had my baby in my belly, my boy was only two years old, so it was really really hard."
It started spreading at a frightening speed.
“I had tumors literally popping out of my skin. You could see them.”
“I had tumors literally popping out of my skin. You could see them.”
By the time her daughter was four months old, her melanoma was stage 4. Her oncologist, Dr. Jose Lutzky, showed us her scan filled with black dots where the tumors were growing: “skin, soft tissue, the liver, the bones", he recalled, "the lungs were involved. The median survival for a patient like this is six months.”
At the time, Mt. Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center was the only site in South Florida testing an experimental treatment. The FDA recently approved Yervoy. Delivered in four infusions, three weeks apart, it enables a patient's own immune cells to fight the cancer. Xiomara says she felt “no pain, no side effects. I didn't have any type of reaction.” After two treatments, she started to see her tumors literally shrink before her eyes.
Dr. Lutzky explains that among the study participants “about 30 percent benefitted from the treatment in that they had either a complete response, a partial shrinkage of the tumor, or they had stabilization of disease. That is, the tumor stopped growing.” Less than five percent of the patients responded like Xiomara.
Five years later, there is no trace of melanoma anywhere.
“I feel blessed and extremely happy to be able to raise my kids to be able to keep doing what I love to do.”
Yervoy can now be used for patients with inoperable melanoma or if it has come back after other treatments. The way this immunotherapy works is not specific to melanoma, so they're trying it now on other cancers, specifically lung and prostate. That prostate study will start soon at Mt. Sinai.
Dr. Lutzky explains that among the study participants “about 30 percent benefitted from the treatment in that they had either a complete response, a partial shrinkage of the tumor, or they had stabilization of disease. That is, the tumor stopped growing.” Less than five percent of the patients responded like Xiomara.
Five years later, there is no trace of melanoma anywhere.
“I feel blessed and extremely happy to be able to raise my kids to be able to keep doing what I love to do.”
Yervoy can now be used for patients with inoperable melanoma or if it has come back after other treatments. The way this immunotherapy works is not specific to melanoma, so they're trying it now on other cancers, specifically lung and prostate. That prostate study will start soon at Mt. Sinai.
