Lifesaving Skin Care

Rusty Konkol first noticed the lump in his groin in early 2024. But the active grandfather of 17 was about to chaperone his grandson’s high school Spanish trip to Belize and Guatemala. He figured he would get the lump checked when he returned from his adventure hiking and exploring the mountains of Central America.

He was not worried. He felt like his normal energetic self. At his home in central Wisconsin, he is often outside, chopping wood to heat his home in the small village of Amherst Junction. 

But when Rusty followed up with his primary care physician, he learned the lump was advanced melanoma. Usually associated with skin cancer, melanoma can also develop internally. It can even start on the skin and then seem to disappear — what is known as spontaneous regression — while spreading internally. 

“I was totally shocked,” Rusty said. 

Fortunately, he had trusted health care advisors in the family. His wife and daughter are nurses, and all five of his sons are pharmacists. His oldest son, Justin, executive director of cancer services (former director of Pharmacy at Froedtert Hospital), urged him to seek treatment with the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Network. 

New Treatment Option

After consulting with Amy Harker-Murray, MD, medical oncologist and MCW faculty member, Rusty began immunotherapy treatment in summer of 2024. But his cancer did not respond and continued to spread to his liver, lung, lymph nodes and beyond. 

Around the same time, the Cancer Network became the first in Wisconsin to offer people with advanced melanoma a new treatment option: lifileucel, the only FDA-approved tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy for metastatic melanoma. 

Lymphocytes, a type of specialized white blood cell, are part of the body’s natural immune defense against cancer. They recognize cancer cells as foreign and infiltrate tumors to attack them. But some cancers can grow faster than lymphocytes can remove them. 

With lifileucel therapy, TILs are extracted from a patient’s tumor. They are sent to a lab where they are multiplied before being infused back into the patient’s body. 

“It’s a way of harnessing a person’s own immune system so it can do a better job of eliminating melanoma cells,” Dr. Harker-Murray said. 

The Cancer Network participated in a national clinical trial that showed lifileucel therapy is effective at reducing cancer cells and improving overall survival — a trial that led to FDA approval. 

“Making advances in patient care is one of many benefits of medical research,” Dr. Harker-Murray said. “It gives our patients real hope of long-term control of their melanoma, and for some people, maybe even a cure.” 

First in Wisconsin 

Lifileucel therapy is not appropriate for every person who has advanced melanoma. Because the treatment is aggressive and can stress the organs, patients must first try other standard treatment options and meet certain eligibility requirements, including passing cardiac and pulmonary function tests. It can take weeks before the extracted immune cells are ready for infusion, so the speed of an individual’s cancer progression is also a factor.

“Rusty was an ideal candidate,” Dr. Harker-Murray said. “He was in excellent shape and had a positive attitude. Both of those things help.” 

In late January 2025, Rusty became the first person in Wisconsin to receive lifileucel therapy since its approval by the FDA. 

“I was all for it,” he said. 

Offering this type of advanced treatment requires a high level of multidisciplinary care and experience, and the Clinical Cancer Center at Froedtert Hospital campus is the only facility in Wisconsin certified to offer lifileucel therapy. 

In December 2024, Rusty had a surgical procedure at Froedtert Hospital to remove a sample of tumor tissue — the first step before TILs can be collected and grown in the lab. In mid-January 2025, he began chemotherapy treatment to suppress his immune system and make room for the infused cells. 

Rusty’s body was then ready for the TIL infusion. He spent four days in intensive care while receiving interleukin-2, a drug that stimulates immune cells to fight cancer. While the process was not easy, the quality of care helped. 

“Everyone throughout the hospital was outstanding,” Rusty said. 

“I would recommend the Froedtert & MCW Cancer Network in a heartbeat,” said Linda, Rusty’s wife. “Everyone is knowledgeable, up on the latest treatments and very passionate about the care they give.” 

Rusty returned home in mid-February. Since then, three scans have shown that his tumors are shrinking. He is back to hunting, fishing and splitting wood. 

“I have no issues, and it has been amazing,” he said. “I’m happy to be alive and still with my wife, kids and grandkids. I will never give up.”