Immunotherapy clinical trial keeps melanoma survivor cancer-free

Immunotherapy clinical trial keeps melanoma survivor cancer-free

Karlee Steele had beaten melanoma twice, once in 2011 and again in 2013, so she was shocked when a year-and-a-half later, she found a swollen node under her arm. After a needle biopsy, she was told the cancer wasn’t outside her skin, but inside, in the nodes under her right arm. It was stage III melanoma.

It originated from her second melanoma in 2013. It was so aggressive that it traveled into her lymph nodes where it stayed silent for almost two years. Karlee decided to have surgery at MD Anderson. Following surgery, she enrolled in an immunotherapy vaccine clinical trial. Over time, the immunotherapy worked, gradually shrinking and ultimately eliminating the melanoma.

Today, Karlee is cancer-free, no longer in treatment and grateful to have her life back. She credits MD Anderson’s Melanoma Moon Shot Program as the driving force to choosing MD Anderson.

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Read more about Karlee https://www.mdanderson.org/publications/cancerwise/2016/11/melanoma-immunotherapy-clinical-trial.html?intcmp=HPFaces8_KarleeSteele