BALTIMORE — A new treatment for melanoma is not only increasing the chance of survival for people with recurring melanoma it's also less invasive.
In 2019, Christine McGonigal had a small bump on her lower right leg tested. She had melanoma stage three cancer.
"Devastating, it was right before Christmas. It was December 19th that I found out. All my children, I have four children, they were coming for Christmas, and I had to tell them while they were there,” McGonigal said.
She wasted no time in getting it removed. In January of 2020, Dr. Vadim Gushchin, the Surgical Oncologist at Mercy Medical Center, did surgery on Christine's leg. A short time later, spots returned. A biopsy showed the melanoma was still there.
"Then he did ILI, which is isolated limb infusion, which is a procedure where a catheter goes through your abdominal area down into your leg and he flushes it with two chemotherapy drugs,” said McGonigal.
The cancer had returned two more times. Dr. Gushchin then tried a new method to treat the melanoma called injection Imlygic therapy.
"It involves injection of a specific drug based on viruses inside the lesion and it destroys the lesion directly and exposes it to the patient’s immune system better,” Dr.Gushchin.
A method used only if the melanoma returns. He said so far, the results have been spectacular
"So, what I’ve seen so far is an excellent response to this treatment. Not only does it not come back in the place where it shows, but it doesn't come back elsewhere in the body,” said Gushchin.
Something that seemed impossible not that long ago.
"I'm very excited because we didn't have too many things to offer patients,” said Gushchin. "To be honest with you, when melanoma comes back, used to be 10 or 15 years ago, patients would not do very well and they would die very quickly.”
Treatments are every two weeks, lasting a few months and the injection takes only 10 minutes. McGonigal said it was a procedure that never affected her daily life.
"I didn't need anybody to drive me and after I would get home, maybe within two or three hours. I would just feel like flu symptoms and I would just go and lay down and nap or whatever and by the next day everything was gone,” said McGonigal, who has been cancer free for two years.
Now, it's just monitoring it.
"That's why I’m so excited, I didn't need to cut anything out, we don't need to use very toxic drugs,” said Gushchin.
Gushchin said if any spot on your body looks unusual or there is a bump to get it checked out immediately. The quicker the cancer is found, the better chance for survival.
