Live data from Hacker News

Cancer ‘vaccine’ eliminates tumors in mice

med.stanford.edu

171–180 of 188 posts

Re: Cancer ‘vaccine’ eliminates tumors in mice

#171
post #77
post #55

Writing this from a squeaky recliner set beside my wife’s bed in the oncology department of a local research hospital. Three weeks ago she had a radical hysterectomy and partial lymphadenectomy to treat stage IIIc ovarian cancer, and we’re back to try to aid her in her recovery to prepare for chemotherapy. Chemo should start next week, but we are hoping to also participate in a clinical trial for atezolizumab. This i…

Squeeze her hand for a stranger. Every person who has lost someone to cancer, and everyone who has survived it, and all of the people who watched that fight- all of us have her back and stand with her. She's fighting one of the hardest battles put to a person, and she has our respect and awe. I saw my friend at his weakest, and also when he was stronger than anyone I've ever known. It's been years but still, I'm cryi…

[deleted]

Re: Cancer ‘vaccine’ eliminates tumors in mice

#172
post #55

Writing this from a squeaky recliner set beside my wife’s bed in the oncology department of a local research hospital. Three weeks ago she had a radical hysterectomy and partial lymphadenectomy to treat stage IIIc ovarian cancer, and we’re back to try to aid her in her recovery to prepare for chemotherapy. Chemo should start next week, but we are hoping to also participate in a clinical trial for atezolizumab. This i…

Lost my mom 19 years ago to cancerous brain tumors. She was 46 years old (I was 10). Her loss ripped my family apart.

Each family's experience is unique and I can't begin to imagine what it's like to fight the sickness for years.

My heart goes out to the OP's family, and anyone else with an unforgiving disease. I am not a religious man, but I wish your wife the best of luck in her recovery.

Re: Cancer ‘vaccine’ eliminates tumors in mice

#173
post #121
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Squeeze her hand for a stranger. Every person who has lost someone to cancer, and everyone who has survived it, and all of the people who watched that fight- all of us have her back and stand with her. She's fighting one of the hardest battles put to a person, and she has our respect and awe. I saw my friend at his weakest, and also when he was stronger than anyone I've ever known. It's been years but still, I'm cryi…

Thanks so much for this heartfelt comment. The personification of cancer as an enemy didn't really click with me until my family was directly threatened by it. Reading through the drugs in her chemo cocktail, I come across bevacizumab. A little bit of googling and: A cancer needs a good blood supply to provide itself with food and oxygen and to remove waste products. When it has reached 1 to 2mm across, a tumour need…

This was very interresting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjkzfeJz66o

esp. in combination with studies r intermittent fasts/food in general. Neven Orhel's (fiction) books are also in the line with intermittent extremes / how healthy cells can cope with them and cancer cells can not, which is well in-line with the finish saying(was something like "if sauna doesnt cure you no doctor will" - pls correct me here)

Re: Cancer ‘vaccine’ eliminates tumors in mice

#174
post #77
post #55

Writing this from a squeaky recliner set beside my wife’s bed in the oncology department of a local research hospital. Three weeks ago she had a radical hysterectomy and partial lymphadenectomy to treat stage IIIc ovarian cancer, and we’re back to try to aid her in her recovery to prepare for chemotherapy. Chemo should start next week, but we are hoping to also participate in a clinical trial for atezolizumab. This i…

Squeeze her hand for a stranger. Every person who has lost someone to cancer, and everyone who has survived it, and all of the people who watched that fight- all of us have her back and stand with her. She's fighting one of the hardest battles put to a person, and she has our respect and awe. I saw my friend at his weakest, and also when he was stronger than anyone I've ever known. It's been years but still, I'm cryi…

I understand the need to use some martial metaphor but not everybody is born to see through that lens. The friends I have lost to cancer did not loose a battle. They were strong, they did everything they could, they had a "grandeur d'être" that inspires me until today. But sure, they didn't fail/loose the battle. They were just unfortunate. And their ghosts are still with me.

Re: Cancer ‘vaccine’ eliminates tumors in mice

#175
post #26
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article is really nicely written. I'd be happy to answer any questions about it.

As a regular man in the street, how excited should I be about this? What's the chance of this developing into a regular treatment for most types of cancers, within, say, the next ten years?

It's a novel approach, so there is more risk and more reward. I'd guess that it has a 5% chance of making it to market. Most likely, it's ineffective or unsafe (autoimmunity or a more mundane side effect), but it's also possible that that it's effective for many cancers or has very low side effects.

Re: Cancer ‘vaccine’ eliminates tumors in mice

#176
post #38
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you link to some footage of a white blood cell taking apart a cancer cell?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va1jaBGwoT8

As someone commented on that Youtube video: "I love watching cancer die. Great video!". Me too!

Re: Cancer ‘vaccine’ eliminates tumors in mice

#177
post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks so much for this heartfelt comment. The personification of cancer as an enemy didn't really click with me until my family was directly threatened by it. Reading through the drugs in her chemo cocktail, I come across bevacizumab. A little bit of googling and: A cancer needs a good blood supply to provide itself with food and oxygen and to remove waste products. When it has reached 1 to 2mm across, a tumour need…

To be fair, most of that strategy is inherited from healthy cell function. As your body grows and cells become further removed from blood supply, they have to send out a demand signal to encourage vascularization of the under supplied region. Cancer cells simply lack the trigger to stop growing.

Indeed - the theory, that cancer is in fact the primordial default (grow and keep growing) and ordered growth is something that came later springs to mind.

Re: Cancer ‘vaccine’ eliminates tumors in mice

#178
Another layman's question: As far as I understood, the T-cells recognize cancer cells and kill them because the two agents get injected directly into the cancer site, where the T-cells are surrounded by cancer cells. Doesn't this have a risk of the T-cells misjudging normal body cells as dangerous if they happen to have any of them around, or if the injection happens wherewhere else than the cancer site?

I'm thinking of (1) lower but high enough numbers of normal cells somewhere between the cancer cells, and (2) plain accidents like the needle pushed too far / not far enough.

Re: Cancer ‘vaccine’ eliminates tumors in mice

#179
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just not true. Drug companies will make slight modifications to existing drugs and can get new patents on the new formulations and for new indications. If it works, a drug company can make money off of it even if it's been off-patent for years. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenalidomide vs thalidomide for an example. For every therapeutic target there are many chemical/biological solutions that can work.…

How can you say this is not true then give all example that require a patent? Yes you can mine drugs that are out of patent and find new uses for it that can be patented. Do you know of one new drug that has come to market in recent years without patent protection?

The difference between (a) an existing, off-patent molecule and a (b) patentable variant of that molecule is somewhat trivial compared to all of the other costs of bringing a drug to market.

But to address your specific question, generics are drugs that come onto the market all of the time without patent protection.

Re: Cancer ‘vaccine’ eliminates tumors in mice

#180
post #168

Whenever you hear about amazing breakthroughs in medicine, look to see if it is an animal study. Those usually do not translate into results in humans. Do not get your hopes up just yet.

> Those usually do not translate into results in humans. Why would that be the case?

Because what works in animal studies doesn't often work in humans. This is why you hear about a novel cure for cancer in the news every month -- it's always animal studies.

If you want something to get your hopes up, look for stuff undergoing human studies. They're not new(s) -- in fact, it's stuff that is known and has shown promise for years -- but they're more likely to eventually work.

Post reply on HN