My mum was diagnosed with lung cancer 5 years ago and was given the option of Chemotherapy but was given a 5% ( 1 in 20)  chance that it would be any benefit to her and given her borderline health issues and the fact she was in her 70s, we declined it as all it would likely do is make her sick.

You need to speak to your consultant and family as to what the best option is . Your age and health should also play a part.

if it was halving the likelihood that the cancer could come back I’d seriously   consider it 

Hi,

It's a real dilemma when choosing the next steps and considering mortality rates v side effects. There is a lot to discuss here and so I've sent you a friend request. If you accept it, we can chat about this and I can give you some advice about the treatment etc. I'm assuming you are Braf negative as you haven't mentioned being offered a choice of Targeted treatment? 

I haven't had any drug treatment (I was diagnosed long before it was available for Stage 3 patients) but I know many who are currently having the treatment & I know that not everyone has side effects or bad side effects - everyone is different. 

With regards to you initially being diagnosed Stage 0 - it sounds like you were misdiagnosed & you were probably 1a. This is because a true Stage 0 (in-situ) does not spread (it hasn't grown below the epidermis into the dermis). A misdiagnosis rarely happens but in the melanoma community we have come across this a small number of times & you were unlucky. That being said, even if correctly staged, it may have made no difference to your treatment at the time. 

The treatment & side effects do sound frightening but it's having great results & many more Stage 3 patients are surviving without further spread. 

Meanwhile, if you would like to speak to clinicians to try & help make a decision, look at the Melanoma Focus website - they have a dedicated Nurses Helpline & they will be happy to try & help you.

Angie (Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009)