NJ woman cancer-free after being 1st patient for new FDA approved melanoma treatment
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- The first patient in the world to test a new treatment for melanoma is now cancer-free. And the research from MD Anderson at Cooper was just approved by the FDA.
This new therapy for melanoma, a deadly kind of skin cancer, is being called a remarkable success.
"I had no idea that I was going to be the first person in the world to be on this," Debra Marsdale said.
Marsdale can now see the future after being the first to try a new therapy for metastatic melanoma.
Dr. Young Ki Hong, a surgical oncologist at MD Anderson at Cooper, says her cancer is gone.
"This is a very exciting time for everyone," Dr. Hong said.
This therapy uses the patient's own cancerous tumor to remove and revitalize T cells.
"That is essentially comparable to bone marrow transplant but with cancer-fighting T cells," Dr. Hong said.
Dr. Hong's research showed that TIL cell therapy, traditionally used when other treatments fail, can be successful as the first line of treatment.
"Under the belief that your body can truly heal itself we just need to help it," Dr. Hong said. "If this trial is successful we will be able to enroll patients in cell therapy as a first-line treatment and that will give them the highest chance of beating this cancer."
Marsdale says the 16 days of infusions were grueling but worth it.
"I wish it was a lottery ticket it's not, but it's a lottery ticket to life," Marsdale said.
Ironically her husband had another kind of aggressive skin cancer.
"I'll never forget my daughter shaving my head in the hospital and saying I can't believe I'm shaving my second parent's head in two years," Marsdale said.
Her husband didn't survive which motivated Marsdale to try something new.
"I was still numb from my husband's experience," Marsdale said.
She hopes the therapy that saved her will spare other families the agony of cancer loss.
She says she is forever grateful to the medical team that's keeping her family together.
Dr. Hong says now that the FDA approved the therapy it will now be available as the first line of treatment for melanoma patients. He says that will be a game changer.
Visit MD Anderson at Cooper's website for more information.
