With immunotherapy

In the United States, for the first time, doctors have been able to completely cure end-stage breast cancer with the help of immunotherapy – this is described in a publication in the journal Nature. Judy Perkins was diagnosed in 2003; She underwent a mastectomy (surgery to remove the mammary glands), but after a few years the tumor returned in an aggressive form and metastases began to spread to the liver. Perkins underwent seven types of chemotherapy, but nothing worked, and doctors predicted that she had only a few months to live.

Nevertheless, the woman took part in a clinical study, and she was helped by an experimental method of treatment in which doctors took a sample of the tumor for research to determine which T cells are capable of recognizing cancer. After that, they “grew” 82 billion of the same cells and reintroduced them to the patient, “charging” her body to fight the disease. A year later, there was a complete regression of the tumor – for two years the patient has not been showing any signs of cancer, and she leads an active lifestyle; she is now 52 years old.

“After two weeks [after starting therapy], I felt the swelling in my chest begin to shrink and I felt better,” she recalls. “The experts may call it a long-term remission, but I believe I am cured.”