Posted by Michael Wonder on 31 Aug 2016
Auckland asbestos victim rises from death bed after Keytruda treatment
31 August 2016 - The story of another remarkable recovery after the use of a PD-1 inhibitor in a patient with advanced cancer.
The New Zealand Herald tells the tale of asbestos cancer patient Leonard Pene was close to death when he took a chance on the hyper-expensive skin cancer drug Keytruda.
His cancer specialist Dr Richard Sullivan had told him it might be too late for the drug to work.
But within three days of his first Keytruda infusion, the 68-year-old Auckland grandfather was starting to feel better - and hungry. On Anzac Day, son James Pene recalls, his dad opened his eyes and asked for Watties spaghetti, which he ate, cold, straight from the can.
