Target Therapy

What is Targeted Therapy?

Targeted therapy is the foundation of precision medicine. It is a type of cancer treatment that targets proteins that control how cancer cells grow, divide, and spread. As researchers learn more about the DNA changes and proteins that drive cancer, they are better able to design promising treatments that target these proteins.

My Targeted Therapy Experience

After completing radiation and my second round of immunotherapy, my Doctor ordered scans. We were hopeful that the immunotherapy was working and that I could continue with that treatment. However, I was experiencing severe swelling in my stomach, side and left arm. I also felt extremely fatigued. After reviewing the scans, the doctor explained that the swelling was fluid from my liver and other tumors. She believed that the cancer was spreading very rapidly and that the immunotherapy treatment was not working fast enough. So, she suggested targeted therapy using BRAF mutation oral pills along with a downstream protein inhibitor pill used concomitantly. Within 2 days my tumor began shrinking and the swelling throughout my body started to go down. PRAISE GOD!!! This treatment cannot be used long-term because over time, your body will develop immunity and cause recurrence of tumors. However, right now we praise God for the work he has done thus far. I feel like myself again for the first time in 7 months. I am able to walk, exercise, and function fully. Our current prayer is that the Doctors will find a new long-term treatment that will help my body destroy and rebuke cancer cells that will allow me to live a more normal life.