Posted on 09/29/2013 6:21:19 PM PDT by Olog-hai
Scientists have developed breakthrough drugs that cure skin cancer.
The treatment is already having “spectacular” effects in seriously ill melanoma patients—and could soon be used to defeat other types of cancer. …
One in six patients ravaged by deadly skin cancer are already being cured by the drugs, the European Cancer Congress was told yesterday, with the possibility of more than half being saved with an new combination. …
The first is ipilimumab—or “IPI”. According to research presented to the European congress in Amsterdam yesterday, 17 percent of patients are cured by this drug alone.
But many more—perhaps more than half—could be “clinically cured” by combining them with even newer drugs called anti-PD1s, which break down cancer cells’ defenses. …
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
One in six? And notice the disconnect between headline and story; tiresome when they need to use hyperbole.A cure for skin cancer: Doctors announce historic breakthrough as ‘spectacular’ drugs bring hope to thousands
Did you even read the last line of the excerpt?
Yes, and I saw the words “could be”.
Too bad Sebilius won’t let Conservatives have access to this treatment. I don’t know the specific malady that will take my life. But I know I will die from a case of Obamacare (rationed care), as will everyone reading this post.
Look at the upside - Death Panels are gonna be awesome for the finances of Soc Sec and Medicare.
In the mean time stay out of the sunlight and use plenty of sun blocker.
Good grief, if it’s true, it IS spectacular!
And avoid being Caucasian.
Ipilimumab (i pi lim′ ue mab; also known as MDX-010[1] and MDX-101), marketed as Yervoy, is a drug used for the treatment of melanoma, a type of skin cancer. It is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved human monoclonal antibody developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb, and works by activating the immune system by targeting CTLA-4.
Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) can recognize and destroy cancer cells. However, there is also an inhibitory mechanism that interrupts this destruction. Ipilimumab turns off this inhibitory mechanism and allows CTLs to continue to destroy cancer cells.[2]
In addition to melanoma, ipilimumab is undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), small cell lung cancer (SCLC)[3] and metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer.[4]
One in six is AMAZING!
just imagine all those cavemen that got skin cancer because they didn’t have good sunscreen back then.
bookmarked
Ipilumimab has been in the US for a little over 2 years. It isn’t cheap. For an average weighted patient, the recommended regimen of 4 doses will cost over $140K.
The real buzz for the Melanoma indiction is the efficacy reported in Clinical trials for the 2 Anti-PD1s.
Of all the new targeted cancer therapies, what brentuximab vedotin is doing for CD30 positive Hodgkin Lymphoma patients I think is the most remarkable.
We just learned that my father-in-law has been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of melanoma. Thank you for the info.
Really hope it works, for all your sakes.
I lost my Dad to this killer, and I can tell you, “One in six” would have made us jump for joy. Right now, even with the most aggressive chemo your chances are listed at less than 2%. In fact, all the doctors would discuss was the number of months of life increase that ‘might’ occur. Cure was out of the question.
Words like "could be", "possibly", "might", etc., are standard in scientific writing. Since scientists are always venturing into unknown territory, their interpretations of what they find could be (and often are) wrong. Since no scientist wants to be put on the spot for being wrong, they use those words to make sure readers know that they are aware that other explanations exist.
If you ever see a scientist writing with certainty about new things that have not been vetted by numerous other scientists doing numerous other studies, you can be fairly certain that that particular scientist is a clueless hack.
I just don’t like when newspapers raise expectations like that. It is a very high number, yes, and that with the IPI alone; the expectations seem very high compared to the drug combination.
I’ve had cancer deaths in my family too, albeit not from skin cancer.
Those phrases are most common in scientific writing relating to the theory of evolution.
Pfl
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