These cancer “game-changer” therapy stories come up once or twice a year. Usually, they’re not heard from again.
That said, some of them do pan out. Cancer is far more survivable today than it was thirty years ago.
I don’t know if there’s a cancer ping list, but I thought you might find this interesting.
If it does work, it’ll be like the new Hep C cure... free if you’re on welfare, otherwise out of reach because the treatment costs $80K and insurance companies don’t cover it.
I did a little looking at T-VEC; it’s a treatment, not a cure. It’s an improvement, not a panacea. It does, however, open a door to new research, that is, convincing viruses to help us out, rather than attack us.
Praying that the trials are successful.
It's designed to be injected into a tumor. This doesn't seem feasible for each and every cancer, but this does seem to me to be a major advance in cancer treatment.
Here is an article on that very promising melanoma treatment.
The treatment, which is called T-VEC (for talimogene laherparepvec) but will be sold under the brand name Imlygic, uses a modified virus to hunt cancer cells in what experts said was an important and significant step in the battle against the deadly disease.
It works by introducing a specially modified form of the herpes virus by injection directly into a tumour – specifically skin cancer, the indication for which the drug has been cleared for use.
It was developed by the Massachusetts-based biotech company BioVex, which was acquired in 2011 by biotech behemoth Amgen for $1bn. The genetic code of the virus – which was originally taken from the cold sore of a BioVex employee – has been modified so it can kill only cancer cells.
pfl
I hope it works....but it sounds like the beginning of “I Am Legend”.
This may be a game changer since it has been approved. So it has withstood Phase 1 to x trials.
The hope is that even though one tumor gets the injection, the patient’s immune system is triggered to knock out the cancer, all over. Not every person will get this reaction, but it is not unprecedented in medicine. Simple radiation of a single lesion has induced immune response in rare cases. A drug called Xofigo, a radium to prostate cancer in bone, has been known to trigger immune response.
Much of the immune drug development begin with melanoma patients. However, it is likely applicable to prostate and breast cases as well. Look for YERVOY, OPDIVO, KEYTRUDA, ZELBORAF, KEYTRUDA, ZELBORAF in the approval pipeline.
First, thanks for posting.
Second, thanks for searching.
And the kiss of death: the ‘approval’ of the FDA...
I’m sure, w/out the govt, we’d be finding side-benefits, offshoots, maybe even a cure, if terminal humans were given the ability to test these drugs. ‘Cuz you’re damn skippy if I’m on my death bed, I wouldn’t grab at any opportunity to stay a bit longer for myself, family, loved ones, friends...
I’ve always had a feeling we’d eventually hear/find out, “We found the cure to X, which originally was rejected because of failures during animal testing. It was when we developed Y, did we notice the pattern for X...”
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Ever read the stories of patients who suddenly, unexplainably, go into remission? And the doctors themselves can’t understand why? I wonder whether a virus is the reason.
how soon before it’s marketed? It’s such a major deal now to get thigns approved and actually out to the market-
I was at a patient seminar for prostate cancer at MD Anderson four months ago.
There has been tremendous progress made in the treaing of prostate cancer and a cure will be found in either immunotherapy, viral therapy, or both.
Thanks for posting.
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