I had a zoom meeting with Dr. Jessica Lin and Dr. Alice Shaw today to go over my scans. And…despite the fact that I am feeling more symptomatic, everything looks relatively unchanged from the previous scan six weeks ago.
However, Alice assured me, I know my own body and she takes my assessment seriously. Bottom line, this likely represents slow progression—too subtle for scans that are spaced six weeks apart.
The plan is to wait two weeks for another infusion of DS1062-a. Ideally I would have at least one more infusion after that, but once again after four or five weeks rather than three in the interest of side effect management.
Then we would reassess. Of course, I always want to know what my future options are. I am happy to report that there are two, a virtual wealth. First, a MEK inhibitor paired with lorlatinib, a trial which is currently enrolling. However, Alice was even more enthusiastic about a trial which is at least three months away from the clinic; a SHP2 inhibitor and lorlatinib. Because I have three known secondary mutations, (G1202R, S1206F and G1269A) Alice feels my cancer is still primarily driven by ALK–the secondary mutations representing an effort to get around ALK inhibition. Hopefully a combo will cover enough bases.
I would characterize this as good news. I already knew my cancer was progressing but I am reassured that the progression is slow. And I like the sound of two options vs one. Better yet, should I have to begin with the MEK inhibitor/lorlatinib, it will not preclude my enrollment in the SHP2 trial.
So there you go. Business as usual. I still have cancer. But I also have options.
xo
life and breath: outliving lung cancer 