Since I do not own a TV, my reply is to the affirmative. :)

Keytruda is the name I hear being bandied about regarding Jimmy Carter's miraculous recovery from brain cancers.

There is a very voluble lady on this site who blames her continuing life on Opdivo. :)

Best wishes

Yes but only the few can have it.

That add is on all the time in our area too.

At least it's about cancer and it's not pink... We get the ads a lot in central Ohio as well.

Why, IronMom45, can only "the few" have it?

Thanx.

Gee...It cost $150,000 a year,
I can buy a house in Illinois for this amount...

I see this add a lot also in new york

Spending a fortune on Ads doesn't say anything about it's efficacy.
Coke spends a fortune and it is terrible for kids health and their teeth.
Sometimes more is spent on a lousy product to get sales.
I wonder HOW Chipotle comes back from the mess they are in but through ADS they will do it somehow. The sharp guys on Madison Ave. could sell Ice to Eskimos.

Why do the drug companies spend million$ on ads for drugs that are beyond the reach of most patients? The whole idea of advertising is to both sell a product and to introduce this new product to the market.
Please don't say that many of these oh so benevolent drug companies have programs that help the "less fortunate" afford these drugs, as this is a misnomer! These programs are short-lived, poorly planned and badly executed. I personally found that out.
$150,000 a year? How many of us here could handle that?

I did a market research opportunity through WhatNext recently. Opdivo is coming up with a new commercial. Fun to get to see what they have in mind and offer my opinions!!! My three unsolicited opinions that I gave them were: 1) use real cancer patients instead of paid actors in the commercials, 2) show some younger people - lung cancer happens to young and old, and 3) show people out there living life fully instead of sedately going through life.

This was a perfect opportunity for me because Opdivo has been keeping me alive for the last 2.5 years. (Yep, I am no doubt the "very voluble lady on this site who blames her continuing life on Opdivo" Geekling references above.) I don't blame Opdivo, but I certainly do credit it.

Immunotherapies are still in trial for many cancers. It is definitely the wave of the future, but there is much work left to do. Some here do not support money for research, but I am a huge proponent for it and spend many hours advocating for it every week. Scientists and researchers are on the brink of huge advances. They have to have funding to continue their work.

@Molly72, you've made this argument before and I've had the same response ... but ... Opdivo at $150,000 a year (which is covered by most insurance, I believe) ... is far cheaper than the chemo treatments I got when I was first diagnosed. Those treatments cost my insurance $55,000 per treatment. I had them every 3 weeks for 8 treatments. Not only did they make me sicker than a dog, their annual cost far exceeded that of Opdivo.

As hopeful as Opdivo is for some lucky people, sadly, it is not for everyone. My oncologist says the worst side effect of immunotherapy (which includes Opdivo and Keytruda) is disappointment. It DOESN'T work on more than it does work for. But, for those for whom it works, it is a true blessing.

My hospital published an article recently featuring my doctor that discusses Opdivo and the hope it brings to late-stage lung cancer patients (and melanoma). One lady posted a comment on the article that Opdivo had killed her husband in a matter of weeks after beginning treatment. It is no surprise that she HATES the drug as much as I love it.

I was appalled at the end of the Ad they read off (very fast talking..lol) some of the most horrific side effects I've ever heard. Maybe they shouldn't do that or maybe by law they have to now. I wonder what is in it that can cause such bad side effects....doesn't make sense.

I do not use my TV for a TV because it is my computer monitor. How ever I have for the past 2 weeks spent a lot of time in hospital waiting rooms. It seemed that the ads were constantly running. The commercials caused my mental flags to go up. If it sounds to good to be true then it's probably not true. I am also against advertising medications. Such ads may cause a patient to pressure the Dr to prescribe the medication.

BarryBoomer, immunotherapies can cause auto-immune problems. It usually doesn't, but jump starting an immune system to fight cancer is not without consequences.

As far as the side effects, I believe they are required by law to give every possible significant side effect. Most drugs I hear advertised make me wonder why anyone would submit to taking them.

I am so very glad to hear that you have had success with Opdivo, that certainly is encouraging.
But, (you guessed that there would be a but!) the price is an outrage. The constant repeating ads are an outrage.... prime time advertising ain't cheap! I have seen some drug ads repeated as many as 3 times in a half an hour, which is totally unecessary and a total waste of drug companies' funds and the viewers' patience!

Many insurances do not cover these $150,000 a year or $55,000 a pop costs, you are very fortunate to have found a good insurance company that will actually help their customers pay for life-saving drugs. Some insurances have such high monthly costs and co-payments that those of us on Medicare are unable to stretch our budgets enough to accomodate them.

As Barry mentioned, the side effects are enough to discourage and scare potential users away.
Wish I had been scared enough!!!
And your doctor mentioned that "disappointment" was the worst side effect of some of these wonder drugs! A very thought-provoking and wise thought!
We all have to decide our own paths.

Molly as you mentioned some paths are not open to all, due to the high cost. I also would like to point out that we have already paid for some of the cost of the development of those medications with our taxes. The government has already given money to the pharmaceutical companies through grants. I also fear that little of the profits will be funneled back into more research.

I believe that Big Pharma should get Audited by the Federal Government.
But of course most moved overseas and can't be touched.
Somebody will win a Pulitzer exposing that mess and it will be ugly.
Drugs will Not Cure Anything. Cancer will eventually be solved by a simple DNA Adjustment and it will be over...they may already know how to do that but I believe they will milk the chemo train as long as possible....Hope I'm wrong and just too cynical but I fear it's the truth.

I am on Medicare but I get help for my treatments. Sometimes the Mfg helps and other times it is organizations. My Dr and pharmacy requested help on my behalf.

The Opdivo I see all the time, is so dreary looking that it does not entice me to check it out. I say they need to use bright colors of life and hope, not those dreary brown buildings.

My Onc has mentioned it and said it may be in my future when and if my treatment quits working or becomes toxic and I have to quit. I think you have to have certain markers for the Opdivo and Keytruda, but I had to have a positive EGFR for my current treatment.

RubyFaye might not bright colors be deceptive. Frankly I want the TRUTH in black and white.

RubyFaye, Keytruda requires markers. Opdivo does not.

The side effects are minimal for MOST people, but there will always be exceptions.

I don't know how those skeptics here who think money is not pumped into research believe all of the breakthroughs are being made.

Yes, I absolutely agree, we all make our own paths. Choose our own attitudes. And live or die on our own terms.

My sister has metastatic melanoma of lungs and liver. She is 54 and has had 2 treatments of Opdivo and Yervoy. The costs is $50,000.00 per treatment which Bristol Meyers donated for 4 treatments. The side affects are horrendous and she had to be hospitalized for 8 days after the second one. I have taken care of four family members that died from cancer and the immunotherapy drugs are no less toxic nor are they that beneficial. True, it is different for all patients but I for one am not impressed. Just more big money for very little improvement and lesser quality of life. JMO

Brokenwing2, I am so sorry your sister didn't benefit. Her side effects were obviously very extreme. Most of us do not suffer nearly as bad of side effects as with chemo. However, the people I am most familiar with who have had immunotherapy are being treated for late stage lung cancer. Maybe that makes a difference or maybe your sister was one now the unlucky ones who reacted badly. Opdivo, for me, totally, 100% returned my life to me and has kept my tumors at bay for 3 years and counting.

I agree with everything livewithcancer speaks about with immunotherapy..It is not for everybody, and doesn't work at times, it has for her,and it is for me..I'm stage 3 Prostate cancer on Keytruda for 12. Treatments already and has me in "control"mode, no further progression, continued regression, I have a prostate mutation called Neuroendocrine, that has the same cell surface antigens as the cancers both Opdivo and Keytruda were developed for they are checkpoint inhibitor's PD1/PDL1, for Nsclc, melanoma and Renal cancers, more and more cancers are responding to this Theraphy, and will be the treatment of the future over toxic chemotherapy, side effects can be severe, but don't affect everybody, I have had none for 8 months now...But can raise its ugly head months after treatment ends, I am checked constantly...Chemo did nothing for me, but immunotherapy is prolonging my life.