Posted on 06/19/2009 5:01:05 PM PDT by Daffynition
Two prostate cancer patients who had been told their condition was inoperable are now cancer-free as the result of an experimental therapy, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester announced today.
“We were all pretty shocked,” says Dr. Eugene Kwon, an immunologist and urologist at Mayo and leader of the clinical trial in which the experimental therapy was being used. “These results were far beyond anything we ever envisioned.”
The two patients had a particular subset of prostate cancer that is very aggressive and deadly. Unlike most prostate cancer, which grows slowly and usually remains confined to the prostate gland, aggressive forms tend to advance and spread quickly. By the time the cancer is diagnosed, treatment is usually ineffectual. These aggressive prostate cancers are the second-leading cause of cancer death (after lung cancer) in American men.
A treatment that tricks the immune system The clinical trial that the men was enrolled in was a Phase II study — one designed to see if a particular treatment is effective in a modest-sized group of people (usually 100 to 300) and thus deserving of a much larger, randomized Phase III trial. The agent being tested was an immunotherapeutic drug called MDX-010, or ipilimumab. It was given to the two men in combination with standard hormone therapy.
The men first received the hormone therapy, called androgen ablation, which blocks the body’s production of testosterone, thus shrinking their tumors somewhat. “It ignites a little immune response,” says Kwon. The response isn’t strong enough to fight off all cancer cells, however. That’s where the ipilimumab comes in. “It’s like pouring gasoline on a pilot light,” says Kwon. The ipilimumab tricks the immune response into “burning” long enough to overpower the cancer cells, he says.
A surgical surprise Within weeks of treatment, the two men’s tumors could not be seen on MRIs. But the real surprise came when the first patient underwent surgery. Removing the prostate gland in advanced cases has not been shown to have any therapeutic benefits. But because of the remarkable MRI results — and the tenacious insistence of the wife of one of the patients — Kwon and his Mayo colleague, urologist and surgeon Michael Blute, MD, decided to go “off study” and operate.
When Blute opened the patient on the operating table, he saw a lot of blanched scar tissue — usually a sign of advanced cancer. He sent tissue samples to the pathology lab (standard procedure) and, while waiting for the results, went out to prepare the patient’s family for what he was sure was going to be bad news.
“But the pathologist came back saying he couldn’t find the cancer,” says Kwon. “They ended up removing the prostate. Not only could they not find cancer outside the prostate, they couldn’t find it inside either.”
Surgery on the second patient produced similar results. A year-and-a-half later, both patients are entirely off therapy and have no evidence of cancer, says Kwon.
Caveats Much more research is needed, Kwon points out, to determine the precise mechanisms behind this treatment — and what the most effective dosages and ways of administering it might be. Kwon also points out that so far, only three of the 54 patients in the therapy arm of the clinical trial have demonstrated such dramatic results. “In this trial, we may have been working with sub-optimal doses,” he says.
This fall, Mayo intends to start a clinical trial using higher and repeated doses of ipilimumab in combination with hormone therapy. “If that moves in a promising direction, we’ll go on to Phase III trials,” says Kwon.
Excellent news!
Thanks for posting!
bump
I hope they hurry up and get every cure they can to market ASAP. Soon, R&D may vanish due to socialism choking innovation out of the market.
It will be labeled “Unavailable” to those that eat government cheese.
It won’t matter if they get it to market before Obama-care is in place.
It will simply be deemed “too expensive” to distribute if you’re not “in the ruling class”. And, as in Canada, private clinics will be illegal.
>> It will be labeled “Unavailable” to those that eat government cheese.
And, hey, pretty soon, who WON’T be eating government cheese?
Even if you don’t WANT government cheese, it will be rammed down your throat.
Resistance will be futile.
And the cheese will be moldy, anyway...
>> It will simply be deemed “too expensive” to distribute if you’re not “in the ruling class”.
Yeah, soon, the only ones that will be eligible to have their prostate cancer cured will be Pelosi, Hillary, and Debbie Stabenow.
Under HusseinCare, these pts would most likely not have been approved for the experimental treatments.
Every American at some point in their lives will face a medical crisis.
Or have one of their loved ones facing a medical crisis.
If Obama and the Democrat Party get their way-
prayer and back alley home remedies will be their only recourse.
neuter the bulldykes
This is the part that gets me. Usually removal of the prostate means that the man has to pee in a diaper, and is "non-functional", if you get my drift.
Methinks she had an ulterior motive...
RIP, Gary Papa.....
Pretty incredible.
For all those for which this possible cure came to late, including Gary Papa, let us hope. Let us hope.
"When the revolution comes, everyone will eat peaches and cream!"
"But I don't like peaches and cream."
"When the revolution comes, you WILL like peaches and cream!"
I doubt it. Simply because there is another surgical procedure that can sometimes stop the cancer especially the slower less aggressive variant. The prostate is left intact and the means of producing testosterone is removed instead which causes no bladder ill effects. Even at that the body still produces a certain amount of testosterone and that is what Prostate Cancer feeds on. Thankfully more research is being done and more knowledge gained.
Ok, they lost me. If there was no cancer, why remove the prostate?
So when they first looked inside, things looked bad, as if there had been (or still was) widespread cancer. Even though the surrounding tissue came back negative for cancer (apparently before the prostate was actually removed, though that isn't entirely clear), it still seemed extremely unlikely that the interior of the prostate -- the original source of the cancer -- was completely cancer-free.
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