Science New Leukemia Treatment

[Embattle]

New leukemia treatment exceeds 'wildest expectations' - Health - Cancer - msnbc.com - Will certainly be interesting to see what happens in a larger sample.

 

[old.user4556]

Ive read about some very exciting clinical trials using modified retro virii (immunotherapy) that bind to cancer cells only, then the immune system attacks those cells effectively killing the tumour. Just takes so long to go through the clinical trial process.

 

[Job]

Good news, but the most effective and nearly 100% cure for cancer is detecting it early, we should concentrate on that, a six month MOT for cancer.
Spend a few billion on a job lot of MRI scanners setup to detect abnormal cells and cheap cancer sniffers and blood detectors.
Nearly everyone finds they have cancer when it's quite advanced enough to show symptoms, which results in chemo, surgery and quite often death.
Catch a deadly brain cancer when it's the size of grain of rice and you're cured in one visit, six months later when it's giving you headaches..you're dead.

 

[Zenith.UK]

I agree with the diagnostic tests Job.
I used to work for a medical diagnostics company making the kits for automated blood tests. I calibrated the response curves for a number of products, including a couple of cancer marker tests. They are insanely sensitive and can pick up signs in blood tests WAY before the physical signs show.

 

[rynnor]

3 people? Come back when its been properly tested.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Rynnor if you were a leukemia patient, this would make you jizz your pants a bit too

Job, to be pedantic, there's no real cure for cancer, just treatment. Well, if you believe in the cancer is in our dna thing that is.

 

[Job]

Rynnor if you were a leukemia patient, this would make you jizz your pants a bit too

Job, to be pedantic, there's no real cure for cancer, just treatment. Well, if you believe in the cancer is in our dna thing that is.

I challenge your pedantic, cancer is mutated cells, if you destroy all those cells. leaving not even one left, then the cancer is cured.
I think the body has something like seven levels of protection against mutated cells growing uncontrollably, they mutate all the time and to progress to a tumour takes a cascade failure of these 'safety' devices, this can be either a swamping of the mechanism or an agent which defeats them.
Smoking is a swamping of the system, it usually copes well, but eventually statistics get you, or after one cigarette, that's life.

 

[old.Tohtori]

I challenge your pedantic, cancer is mutated cells, if you destroy all those cells. leaving not even one left, then the cancer is cured.
I think the body has something like seven levels of protection against mutated cells growing uncontrollably, they mutate all the time and to progress to a tumour takes a cascade failure of these 'safety' devices, this can be either a swamping of the mechanism or an agent which defeats them.
Smoking is a swamping of the system, it usually copes well, but eventually statistics get you, or after one cigarette, that's life.

What was meant by the rather pointless pedancy(it's a word!), was that it's there no matter what. Part of the DNA whatnot. Ofcourse there are outside mutagens(shame no turtle stuff...), but in essense everyone is carrying some kind of cancer. The pedancy perhaps comes from a treatment vs cure definitions and from the fact mist cancer is just useless carry-ons.

 

[Embattle]

More info - NYT: Man's immune system trained to kill cancer - Health - The New York Times - msnbc.com

 

[CorNokZ]

3 people? Come back when its been properly tested.

So far it has a 100% cure rate and that is amazing taking into consideration that it has cured cancer. I may only be three times, but still amazing news. Most of us know someone who has/had cancer so it affects many people and news like these are always more than welcome

Don't be negative when you are being met by positivity

 

[old.user4556]

To be fair, what he's getting at is that that it may be 100% successful but it is only 3 people.

Immunotherapy trials have cured people before, but there are plenty of people that it didn't work for. However, it is excellent news given that immunotherapy treatments have nearly no toxic side effects unlike chemo and radiotherapy which can kill people before the cancer does.

 

[Chilly]

That's pretty amazing shit there, I hope they have continued success in future trials and create a useful treatment. It has amazing potential.

 

[bainteor]

I don't trust this. If the BBC reports it, only then will I take it seriously. We've had stories and news articles exactly like this being banded around for years and years. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

 

[caLLous]

If the BBC reports it, only then will I take it seriously.

Nowadays that's akin to saying "I won't believe it unless it's in the Sun".

 

[caLLous]

There goes my neg-rep cherry. I could tell you weren't sure though because your comment was "Trolling?" with a question mark.

I really wasn't trolling, I was pointing out that the beeb isn't the fine news institution that it once was. But whatever.

 

[bainteor]

The BBC are the finest in the world.

 

[TheDoon]

Like Carrick.

 

[Embattle]

SOmething for AIDS - Scientists Disarm AIDS Virus

 

[old.user4556]

The same thing has just been written about glioblastoma (what killed my cousin)

Targeting Cholesterol May Help Slow Glioblastoma Modern Cancer Treatments

 

[rynnor]

Here's a typical 'cancer wonderdrug' story - BBC News - Alpha radiation treats prostate cancers

So good they stopped the trial and put everyone on it...

Die at 14 months as opposed to 11 months with nowt - amazing...

Its the disgustingly cynical way that every new drug the pharmaceutical companies wish to sell at extortionate prices is touted as a 'wonderdrug' usually on the basis of a single study.

Funnily enough later studies never quite match that initial study - what you mean drug companies run multiple trials and only talk about the ones that were randomly better - surely not

The reason behind all this chicanery is that the pharmaceutical patents eventually run out on decent drugs at which point the drugs company will lose out.

But whats this? If we make a harmless variant of it we can get a fresh patent you say? And then we can do some small number studies for a distorted benefit then push that at the press and they'll whip up patient demand you say - what a wheeze!

 

[old.Tohtori]

Die at 14 months as opposed to 11 months with nowt - amazing...

Three months is a lifetime, in a sense, to a dying person.

Ofcourse if it's spent pooping your pants, in pain and unable to move anywhere, not so much.

 

[Embattle]

I've been concerned for a long while now about the possibility that actual good drugs get held back because they aren't going to make as much money as the alternative less sucessful, it is hard to accept that people would but then you are actually dealing with a faceless company.

 

[old.Tohtori]

I've been concerned for a long while now about the possibility that actual good drugs get held back because they aren't going to make as much money as the alternative less sucessful, it is hard to accept that people would but then you are actually dealing with a faceless company.

Way of the world really, don't even have to go into big companies, individuals work on the same principle. No profit, usually no care. People saying they aren't that selfish usually stop that generous streak when some hobo asks them for a fiver.

 

[rynnor]

I've been concerned for a long while now about the possibility that actual good drugs get held back because they aren't going to make as much money as the alternative less sucessful, it is hard to accept that people would but then you are actually dealing with a faceless company.

Pharmaceutical companies are huge incredibly profitable companies - there is inevitably a conflict between the profit motive and the interests of the sick.

Lets say I found the cure for cancer - cures all types and never comes back.

On the one hand it would make them a lot of money in the short term but longer term when the patent ran out everyone could make generic versions of it and the pharmaceutical company has lost all of its cancer drug income.

Additionally its in the interest of drugs companies to delay the release of new drugs if they are already supplying the existing best selling drug for that cancer. That way they can stagger the patents.

Pharmaceutical research should be a function of the state - imagine how much money is wasted on useless variants of drugs whose patents have run out in the NHS?

 

[Chilly]

Pharmaceutical research should be a function of the state - imagine how much money is wasted on useless variants of drugs whose patents have run out in the NHS?

I trust the state even less. Then you get political meddling, which is even worse and less logical than capitalistic meddling.

 

[Tuthmes]

I trust the state even less. Then you get political meddling, which is even worse and less logical than capitalistic meddling.

How could it be worse (or ie. isnt it exactly the same)?

 

[Embattle]

BBC News - Cancer cost 'crisis' warning from oncologists

 

[rynnor]

I trust the state even less. Then you get political meddling, which is even worse and less logical than capitalistic meddling.

Thats an odd reading of it - when would politicians have a reason to be against better cancer drugs whereas as discussed above companies have a financial incentive.

 

[old.user4556]

Die at 14 months as opposed to 11 months with nowt - amazing...

I agree with you to an extent, but remember a lot of these new treatments have way, waaaaaay lower toxicity than standard chemo / radio, so if someone lives for 14 months without puking their eyes out, having their hair fall out and being generally fucked and has 14 months of good quality of life, then it's a big step forward. Additionally, some of these immunotherapy treatments are simple once a week 'shot in the arm' treatments instead of being plugged into a drip several times a week or under a gamma knife every day getting their body irradiated with radiation. Surely that alone makes cancer treatment leaps and bounds better than previous horrific treatments that could kill the person before the cancer does?

I do appreciate your frustration though, I've seen rave reports of new cancer treatments but when you read the small print you find that they all still died as it prolonged their life an extra couple of months. Hardly ground breaking from that respect.

 

[old.user4556]

Watch the vid.

Investor Relations - ImmunoCellular Theraputics, Ltd.