Yesterday we held a Tweet Chat with our amazing co-hosts Georgia Hurst and Amy Byer Shainman, and special guest Stephanie Goff, MD, of the National Cancer Institute to discuss what you need to know about immunotherapy and Lynch Syndrome related cancers. We were also honored to be joined by Erin Mading, who recently lost her third child to cancer due to a rare syndrome, CMMR-D, associated with carrying two mutations for Lynch Syndrome.
Here are the highlights of the conversation. Have a question or comment you didn’t get to contribute? Please post in the comments below.
First off, what exactly is immunotherapy?
@Hc_chat #Hcchat A1#Immunotherapy is quickly becoming the 4th tool in the treatment of #cancer, after surgery, radiation & chemotherapy.
— Stephanie L Goff, MD (@slgoff_SB) February 18, 2016
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@Hc_chat #Hcchat A1:2 Unlike traditional approaches, #immunotherapy seeks to harness the tremendous power of the body’s #ImmuneSystem…
— Stephanie L Goff, MD (@slgoff_SB) February 18, 2016
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@Hc_chat #Hcchat A1:3… & turn the forces that can destroy bacteria & viruses into forces that can destroy a #tumor.
— Stephanie L Goff, MD (@slgoff_SB) February 18, 2016
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How does it work and how might it help patients with cancer?
#Hcchat A2:2 .. variety of mechanisms, but can be categorized into 3 broad areas: non-specific stimulation, active immunization
— Stephanie L Goff, MD (@slgoff_SB) February 18, 2016
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#Hcchat A2:3: …& passive transfer of activated immune cells.
— Stephanie L Goff, MD (@slgoff_SB) February 18, 2016
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Erin Mading provided an example of how immunotherapy was used as part of her daughter Isabella’s treatment:
#Hcchat our daughter, Isabella was on Compassionate use of Pd1 immunotherapy. It causes initial swelling (psueodoprogression)
— Erin Mading (@erin_mading) February 18, 2016
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@erin_mading , can you tell us about how you got Compassionate use therapy? #Hcchat https://t.co/vzw5kEIl0H
— Ellen T. Matloff (@MyGeneCounsel) February 18, 2016
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@MyGeneCounsel #Hcchat We contacted Dr Uri Tabori and Sick kids hospital. Dr Tabori and is team are doing extensive research Cmmrd
— Erin Mading (@erin_mading) February 18, 2016
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#hcchat Dr Tabori worked closely with Dr Mason in Pittsburgh. Isabella was the 5th child with Cmmrd on pd1. He was impressed with results
— Erin Mading (@erin_mading) February 18, 2016
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@MyGeneCounsel #Hcchat work with your oncologist to apply for compassionate use right away…the sooner the better!
— Erin Mading (@erin_mading) February 18, 2016
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Where can people go to find out more about immunotherapy and clinical trials?
@Hc_chat #Hcchat A:8 The #NIH has a wonderful resource at https://t.co/rNltwbQ8Yz about #immunotherapy.
— Stephanie L Goff, MD (@slgoff_SB) February 18, 2016
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After giving us a general rundown of immunotherapy, Dr. Goff fielded a few questions from the audience:
@AliveAndKicknDD #hcchat Progress happens when patients help us by enrolling in #clinicaltrials!
— Stephanie L Goff, MD (@slgoff_SB) February 18, 2016
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@LobularResearch #hcchat There certainly is a role for CRISPR for gene editing. But all early stages, very preclinical.
— Stephanie L Goff, MD (@slgoff_SB) February 18, 2016
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Read the transcript or follow #Hcchat on Twitter. Don’t forget to follow us to receive notifications about upcoming hereditary cancer discussions and other news.