Lung Cancer Immunotherapy Side Effects Both Good and Bad…
All FDA Approved Cancer Therapies for Lung Cancer Have Side-Effects. Most are Negative. Once in Awhile a Side-Effect Can Make you Look Younger-
Make no mistake. Conventional cancer therapy will cause short, long-term and late stage side effects. Immunotherapy, anti-PD-1 therapy seems to cause fewer side effects than conventional toxic chemotherapy.
I write about negative collateral damage on PeopleBeatingCancer so often that I had to write a blog post a positive side effect. Immunotherpy can cause “hair repigmentation.” The article linked and excerpted below made me wonder if some lung cancer patients might look younger after their immunotherapy.
I am a cancer survivor and cancer coach. Side effects aside, the more important issue is overall survival and quality of life after therapy for lung cancer. Pre-habilitation, nutrition, supplementation, lifestyle, and other evidence-based non-conventional therapies can reduce or eliminate negative side effects.
Do you have lung cancer? Scroll down the page, post a question or comment and I will reply to you ASAP.
Thanks and hang in there,
David Emerson
- Cancer Survivor
- Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Immunotherapy for lung cancer leads to hair repigmentation
“Patients with lung cancer who were received immunotherapy experienced hair repigmentation, with the majority also experiencing good clinical response, according to recently published study results in JAMA Dermatology…
Four patients had squamous cell lung cancer and 10 had lung adenocarcinoma. Twelve patients were treated with anti-PD-1 therapy, including Opdivo (nivolumab, Bristol-Myers Squibb) and Keytruda (pembrolizumab, Merck), while two patients were treated with Tecentriq (atezolizumab, Genentech)…
There was diffuse darkening of hair in 13 patients, while one patient experienced black patches between white hairs…
Thirteen of the patients remained in treatment with a partial response or stable disease. One patient suspended therapy after four cycles of treatment due to disease progression and eventually died.”
Safety and Tolerability of PD-1/PD-L1 Inhibitors Compared with Chemotherapy in Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.
“A total of 3,450 patients from 7 RCTs were included in the meta-analysis: 4 nivolumab, 2 pembrolizumab, and 1 atezolizumab trials. The underlying malignancies included were non-small cell lung cancer (4 trials) and melanoma (3 trials). Compared with chemotherapy, the PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors had a significantly lower risk of all- and high-grade fatigue, sensory neuropathy, diarrhea and hematologic toxicities, all-grade anorexia, nausea, and constipation, any all- and high-grade AEs, and treatment discontinuation. There was an increased risk of all-grade rash, pruritus, colitis, aminotransferase elevations, hypothyroidism, and hyperthyroidism, and all- and high-grade pneumonitis with PD1/PD-L1 inhibitors…
PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors are overall better tolerated than chemotherapy. Our results provide further evidence supporting the favorable risk/benefit ratio for PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors…”
