![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Now, melanoma researchers are finding promise once again. Because five to six months before a doctor just said I was going to die," he said. "I couldn't believe it when he told me I was in remission after six months. "My radiation oncologist just said I would give you about 10 to 12 months to live," Mattson said.īut his doctors decided to try something new, a combination of radiation and immunotherapy. ![]() Mattson was in stage four of this rare melanoma subtype. "They just initially thought it was a compression fracture, and when surgeons opened me up, they found a bunch of black cancerous tumors which turned out to be spindle-cell melanoma," he said. "It was the type of pain where I knew something was wrong," said firefighter Brett Mattson.Īt the age of 38, debilitating back pain stopped him in his tracks. It will claim nearly 10,000 lives and the number of cases has been rising for decades.īut scientists are developing new treatments at a very fast pace.įor one local man, the timing was perfect. In 2023 alone, doctors estimate 200,000 Americans will be diagnosed with malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. A combination of immunotherapy and a customized vaccine is showing promise as a treatment for melanoma patients. ![]()
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