Louise Belley, here with her daughter Emilie and Doctor Anthony Ribas is visiting the lab that may have saved her life.
Louise was feeling healthy and fine until November 2007 when she noticed a swollen lymph node under her left arm. Biopsy revealed it was a melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.
Further tests showed the cancer had spread throughout her body. "Honestly, at first I was devastated because I realized I was in a bad place," says Belley.
Immune treatment worked at first. "I took Interferon, the standard treatment. The cancer came back."
When a vaccine failed as well, Louise enrolled in Dr. Ribas' trial of a new drug called "R-G 7204" which works differently from any other treatment. It interferes with a protein the cancer desperately needs. "That makes the cancer grow. This turns off that switch," says Dr. Ribas.
First the doctors test the actual cancer cell to see if it has the switch or not. If it does, they begin the treatment.
Since Louise's cells did have the switch, she began treatment immediately.
Early results were beyond what anybody expected. "We're seeing responses we've never seen before in this country. Melanoma was a cancer where we had responses in around ten percent of patients at best and now we are getting 80 percent of the patients responding."
Louise's latest body scan produced very good results. "She's been doing well for all this time. She is now melanoma free.
Louise, who recently took a trip with her family, says she has so many reasons to be happy. "I feel strongly that my chances are good, that I will continue to be cancer free and I enjoy every day to the fullest. When I first found out, Emily just...my daughter had just entered college and now I will be able to see her graduate in June so that means a lot to me."
To be clear, this is not a cure and it can't be used on all patients.
If the cells do have the switch that were talked about, it may increase survival rates by 800%.
That will increase the chances that over time, combinations with other treatments may lead to a cure.
