Surgery for Stage 4 melanoma gives mom, cancer survivor hope and ‘years of my life’ back

Christina Armendariz had experienced significant complications from immunotherapy to treat her Stage 4 melanoma, to the point that treatment had to be stopped. Worried and looking for answers, she turned to experts at Mayo Clinic in Florida for help.
“As a mom, I was terrified. I had Stage 4 cancer, and I didn’t know if I was going to survive that. I wanted to be there for my daughter, more than anything,” Christina said.
Her care team - which included experts from Surgical Oncology, Medical Oncology and Neurology - came together to propose a bold solution.
“Dr. Lopez, Dr. Jakub and Dr. Dronca reviewed my case and immediately came up with a strategy. Their proposal was, ‘we think that this tumor can be surgically removed,’ and that is something I had never heard before,” Christina said.
Today, she’s officially in remission and looks forward to enjoying the “years of my life” that she now has back.
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