Former President Jimmy Carter is Cancer Free

Santiago hurled the challenge after issuing a statement that she is encouraged by reports that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has been cured of brain cancer following cutting-edge treatment from experts of the disease. A previous MRI test showed the four spots of cancer that had developed on his brain were responding to treatment, he said.

“It is fantastic news”. Many of them had no idea the news was coming. News reported that Carter, now 91, is free of the melanoma in his liver.

He expects Carter’s doctors will continue “close surveillance” for any new cancer growth or recurrence in his brain and continue doses of the immunotherapy drug as long as Carter handles it well. Treatment with immunotherapy drugs on an average enhances a patient’s life by a year and a half. “There are still many patients with melanoma who don’t have this outcome”, said Lichtenfeld. Approximately 10,000 deaths occur from it annually. Carter then told the attendees that his recent MRI scans showed no signs of cancer at all. The drug goes by the name Keytruda commercially. It says one of its researchers, Dr. Jason Williams, has suggested the immunotherapy drugs directly into the cancerous tumor and combine it with image-guided cryoablation.

Carter started his treatment in August, which consisted of a combination of radiation and a newer drug. One of the interesting things about these drugs is that as they wake up the immune system.

While most immune therapy drugs boost the immune system so that it can battle the cancer, Keytruda was the first drug to take a different approach.

It works by helping the immune system find and fight cancer.

Now, several months since beginning immunotherapy, Carter’s treatments appear to have worked.

‘There’s no cancer in his body at this point, ‘ said James Carter.

“For someone who is 90 years old, getting these sorts of therapies and doing so well, it’s pretty unbelievable”, said Shepard. They lift a brake on the immune system and encourage it to recognize and attack cancer cells. When it does, they can include inflammatory side effects in the intestines and flu-like symptoms, Shepard said.

“We’re looking at helping people live longer”, he said.

Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, told the wire service that doctors will often scan other parts of the body in melanoma cases, to make sure the disease has not spread.

Carter, who served as United States president from 1977 to 1981, revealed his illness last August. Carter has remained active during treatment, continuing his humanitarian work and volunteering with Habitat for Humanity.