Early results from TIL Treatment…So far so good?!?!

We are a little overdue for an update, but it has been nice to just do regular life for a couple of weeks. Since Jeff got cleared to come home a couple of days early, we have enjoyed being back home together with the kids. This past week Jeff went back to MSK for his 6-week post-TIL scans. We weren’t sure what to expect but given our long odds (about 30%) we were both anxious leading up to it.

We were very glad to see on the latest scans that Jeff has had responded to the TIL treatment. The tumors in his body and his brain have shrunk slightly, and there is a lot less swelling in his brain than a few weeks ago. The blood from the hemorrhage has also started to dissipate. We are of course relieved and pleased with this news and wanted to share it with our community, who have been so supportive throughout this process. However, we think that celebrating now may be premature, given how early it is and how much whiplash we’ve had over the past year.

Jeff goes back for more scans in 6 weeks to see if the response continues. Since this is a very new treatment, we do not have any idea what will happen, and he very well may need further treatment (radiation, or something else). Jeff has had a response to immunotherapy before that only lasted a few months. We are cautiously optimistic but will still be waiting a bit longer before we breathe a sigh of relief.

Jeff is still recovering from the treatment and continues to have some vision impairment and fatigue, so hopefully by the next scans a lot of that will have improved, and then we can truly celebrate. Until then – we are glad we have crossed this first hurdle, it’s better than we expected, and we appreciate your continued prayers for this to be durable.

Love,

Arianna and Jeff