Fighting melanoma with immune system: new therapy

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The numbers are staggering: One person dies of melanoma every hour, and one in 50 men and women will be diagnosed with melanoma at some point in their lifetime. Now a new experimental therapy is training the body's immune system to fight the disease.

Todd Greenlee has been in and out of the hospital since he was diagnosed with stage-4 melanoma last year.

"I had a large, almost like tennis-ball-size lump underneath my left arm," said Greenlee.

Surgeons removed the lump, but the cancer came back and spread. With no other options, Dr. Joseph Clark encouraged Greenlee to enroll in a new clinical trial.

"It's a very unique approach to treating the disease," said Clark. "We actually use his own immune system."

Dr. Michael Nishimura says T-cells are removed from a patient and genetically modified.

"We actually engineer the cells to make them work better so that they can target your cancer cells," said Nishimura.

To make room for the new army of T-cells, high doses of chemotherapy are used to wipe out any other T-cells in the body. Next, the new T-cells recognize the cancerous cells and kill them.

"On the CT scans they've seen some spots actually gone," said Greenlee. "They've also seen spots that have diminished in size."

This is not Greenlee's first battle with cancer. He's survived two brain tumors. The trial employs the use of a monoclonal antibody called Ipilimumab. Side effects include fatigue, diarrhea, skin rash and itching.

The study at Chicago's Loyola University Medical Center is open to patients with melanoma that has spread and who have no other options.