Follow-Up #18 and NEWS from Portland, OR

I had a very early CT scan appointment on a Monday in late April at NIH. Similar to the way it was one year ago when I visited, all who enter Bldg. 10 were to wear masks at all times, but unlike last time, my husband was able to accompany me. A COVID screening station just inside the door was our first stop. We were given fresh masks--replacing those we were wearing--and asked the now-familiar litany of health questions before we were allowed to make our way to Phlebotomy.

Once again instead of the yucky iohexal oral contrast, I was asked to drink "three paper cupsful of water, using a straw placed under (my) mask." Can do.

Later that day, we met my new (#8, if you're counting) immunotherapy fellow, K.H., in the clinic. The attending physician joined us shortly afterwards. They found nothing especially worrying on the scans or bloodwork, but do want me to have an MRI of my liver within the next 3 to 4 months. The attending doc downplayed the findings as, "Stuff we've seen before, that will probably go away like it has before." The radiology report notes: Stable subcentimeter low density lesions in the liver that are too small to be accurately characterized. I've seen notes like this on past reports, so I am choosing to not freak out. I still am officially NED and optimistic that I will remain that way.

UPDATE: I was scanned at my local hospital several months after this follow-up as instructed. My liver showed no abnormalities. WooHOO!

Exciting News! My beloved lab guru, who now works at Providence Cancer Institute in Oregon, has taken the "recipe" for my receptors with him and has tested them in a patient who is now no longer dying of pancreatic cancer! This is the kind of result that NIH has been hoping for! This patient has a matching HLA to mine, and evidently her tumors included the KRAS G12D mutation. Dr. Tran was able to engineer T-Cells to express the receptors that are native to my cells and infuse them into the patient.

Here's one article, but there are lots more if you're inclined to search.