CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) — The first patient in the world to test a new treatment for melanoma is now cancer-free. And the research from MD Anderson at Cooper was just approved by the FDA.
This new therapy for melanoma, a deadly kind of skin cancer, is being called a remarkable success.
“I had no idea that I was going to be the first person in the world to be on this,” Debra Marsdale said.
Marsdale can now see the future after being the first to try a new therapy for metastatic melanoma.
Dr. Young Ki Hong, a surgical oncologist at MD Anderson at Cooper, says her cancer is gone.
“This is a very exciting time for everyone,” Dr. Hong said.
This therapy uses the patient’s own cancerous tumor to remove and revitalize T cells.
“That is essentially comparable to bone marrow transplant but with cancer-fighting T cells,” Dr. Hong said.
Dr. Hong’s research showed that TIL cell therapy, traditionally used when other treatments fail, can be successful as the first line of treatment.