A retired truck driver, Ralph Auriemma, was not surprised when diagnosed with a kidney stone. He was, however, shocked to find out he was also suffering from kidney cancer, which was revealed by additional testing.
The 71 year old underwent five surgeries to remove multiple tumors inside the kidney but they kept growing back. That is until his urologist, Ravi Munver, MD, decided to try an innovative, new treatment.
“For patients, like Ralph, whose tumors are difficult to treat endoscopically, we now have a new approach using Jelmyto,” said Dr. Munver who went on to explain that Jelmyto is a combination of chemotherapy (mitomycin) and an innovative gel technology that is a liquid when chilled and turns into a gel at body temperature.
The gel is injected through a catheter directly into the ureter or through a tube that goes right into the kidney from the back. The treatment, which was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration, is based on a clinical trial of 71 people. The Jelmyto stays in the kidney for 4 to 6 hours fighting the tumors and helping them to shrink or disappear. It slowly starts to liquify as you go about your day and leaves your body when you urinate. Results were achieved after Jelmyto was given once weekly for 6 weeks.
The treatment worked wonders for Ralph who was likely going to lose his kidney. “For patients, like Ralph, Jelmyto therapy can potentially help preserve a kidney, forgo or postpone major surgery, and preserve renal function, it is a true game changer,” said Dr. Munver.
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