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We’re a Lot Better at Fighting Cancer Than We Realized

cshl.nautil.us

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Re: We’re a Lot Better at Fighting Cancer Than We Realized

#131

Post by gumby »

dstick wrote: post #87
gumby wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s a specific regulatory pathway for this process, section 505(b)(2). It allows you to use the safety data for the approved treatments which can save you a lot of time and money (I have used this route for a drug myself T one of my companies). You still have to prove that your formulation is safe,of course, and prove efficacy for the situation you intend to market it for.

Gotcha, and that makes sense. Seems like a big time saver regardless. Are we talking months or years, that are shaved off?

Typically years. We had a program for a drug that caused bladder cancer in rats. The original mfr had spent a couple of years figuring out that it was specific to rats.

I think the current stats are that the average drug time to approval is 14 years.

Re: We’re a Lot Better at Fighting Cancer Than We Realized

#132

Post by iskander »

dstick wrote: post #93
iskander wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a good summary but it's missing the context that these kinds of "hits" will most likely fail clinical trials. Many drugs look good at this stage in preclinical development and almost none of them show both safety (ph1 trial) and efficacy (ph3 trial). There aren't actually that many low hanging therapeutic fruit out there, mostly we have to actually do the work to discover new mechanisms and make new compounds…

It read like that would be different here, using the new method, wouldn’t it? Or did I misunderstand that?

The genes essential for cancer cells to grow in vitro could easily be quite different from those required to establish the tumor micro-environment, invade new tissues and fight off the immune system. They'll have many false negatives from the mismatch in context. Simultaneously, they might have false positives from e.g. differences in layout and density of tumor cells (2D/uniform vs. 3D heterogeneous tumor).

And even if they get the right targets, finding drugs with an effective therapeutic index is hard.

This might be a useful screening technique...but it's not the first high throughput screening method. They might have some successes, only trials will tell.

Re: We’re a Lot Better at Fighting Cancer Than We Realized

#133

Post by msie »

Johnjonjoan wrote: post #111
msie wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My sympathies for you. I've had bad diagnostic experiences with my mother where I thought: "do I have to be the expert here?" My mom had this crippling abdominal itchiness that all the doctors thought was due to her Parkinson's. They did do x-rays, ultrasounds, an endoscopy, a colonoscopy and prescribed cream for her skin but none of that found anything or helped. What they didn't consider were abdominal adhesions th…

I'm so sorry for your loss and for this comment if it turns out to be unwanted. We can always do more. Don't let that overshadow what you did do. You showed yourself to be a loving and caring daughter/son. Please don't feel bad because you weren't listened to. You already exceeded what was expected of you and I think any parent would be proud.

Thank you

Re: We’re a Lot Better at Fighting Cancer Than We Realized

#134

Post by yesenadam »

TaupeRanger wrote: post #97

Frankly, the title is absolutely idiotic. This article describes a way of studying drugs that have already been approved by the FDA for other indications as potential cancer drugs. A vast majority of these drugs will fail or do no better than current treatments which involve butchery and poison. The article is basically worthless and I have no idea why it has even a single upvote from this community. None of this has…

> The article is basically worthless and I have no idea why it has even a single upvote from this community.

People often upvote if the discussion is good. The discussion on this page was very good, I thought, very much worth reading - informative and touching. Thanks all, and good luck.

Re: We’re a Lot Better at Fighting Cancer Than We Realized

#135

Post by agumonkey »

Gibbon1 wrote: post #110
agumonkey wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my uncle got cancer I thought, even with the near zero chances, at least we'd get to see a clean battle. But lots of things were disorganized and weak. I also kinda caught a high ranked guy hiding the truth partially (claims no difference between hospitals at first, then boasts about his facility .. mentioning all the benefits of being here in passing, I ask again for transfer he started stuttering saying no dif…

Thing Ive become aware of is a fraction of doctors and hospitals game the metrics by cherry picking patients. Not just with cancer either. That sets up the possibility the the good program actually has worse outcomes. In short that guys facility has better metrics because they avoid patients like your uncle.

I get your point, and it's highly plausible .. but he was the head of the highest oncology facility in the country so I don't think he's looking for numbers. Now this is an interesting topic.. every year journals list the top 100 hospitals. It would be "fun" if the best ones are the one who picks the most favorable patients u_u;

Re: We’re a Lot Better at Fighting Cancer Than We Realized

#136

Post by _nalply »

My wife is getting FLOT chemotherapy. She also does:

- cannabis

- bromelain and acetylcysteine

- the next two times longevity fasting mimicking during four days around a chemotherapy administration

Cannabis is well known for its medical traits. Bromelain is a meat-digesting enzyme, and a study suggest to combine it with acetylcysteine to reduce the adenocarcinoma. Another study suggests that acetylcysteine protects from neuropathy, a chemotherapy side effect. Fasting is said to switch the body into an energy-saving mode, protecting from chemotherapy, too; something which the tumor cannot so that it experiences the full brunt of the chemotherapy. Longevity fasting mimicking is not fasting but a diet having the same effects as fasting, but I think this is still dangerous. I hope that my wife compensates by eating more when she does not have chemotherapy.

Perhaps this is useful to others. Take care!

Re: We’re a Lot Better at Fighting Cancer Than We Realized

#137

Post by romanoderoma »

bluedevil2k wrote: post #113
romanoderoma wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the state of healthcare in US is absolutely horrifyng How is that even possible that there's a place on earth where middle level engineers are paid 6 figures salaries but as a society they don't care if someone dies in a hospital bed over insurance legalities is completely maddening to me it's one of those things that I will never understand and accept as normal

That’s a really harsh and unfair statement. The doctors and nurses care tremendously and want to help everyone, hospitals do their best to cure everyone. Yes, insurance sucks, but that doesn’t diminish the quality of the workers and how they’re trying to help you.

> That’s a really harsh and unfair statement

I think it's unfair and harsh that life or death are in the hands of private held companies that profit from people desperation.

> The doctors and nurses care tremendously and want to help everyone

But US as a society doesn't.

As an Italian I am heavily taxed just so everyone can benefit from free universal healthcare, regardless of the amount of care doctors and nurses put in their work.

In US people simply don't want to do it.

It's a fact, not a judgement.

To have access to medical attention not having to worry about your finances is much more important than relying of the goodwill of those who work in the healthcare system (and BTW my parents worked for the Italian healthcare their whole life, so I believe you when you say that medical personnel do care).

If sharing is caring, not wanting to share the tremendous amount of wealth produced in exchange for something that would greatly improve the life conditions of large segments of the population, what is?

US has the highest healthchare spending per capita in the World, but the lowest life expectancy of the entire west.

Re: We’re a Lot Better at Fighting Cancer Than We Realized

#138

Post by callmeal »

arcticbull wrote: post #41
callmeal wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I'm curious about what kind of cancer masquerades as iron deficiency, an infection, and a benign tumor? The kind of cancer where the patient can be easily dismissed by the doctor because of course they know best.

"...doctor because of course they know best" is a really strange thing to say. I don't mean to invoke paternalism here -- but between a patient with Google and a doctor with years of medical training, residency and practice, they more than likely do know best. At least, better than the patient. They won't always be right, and you can ask for a second opinion, but they do know better. If they didn't, you could practic…

>"...doctor because of course they know best" is a really strange thing to say.

Personal experience and paying a little attention to the news is how I came to that conclusion. The truth remains that in this country (USA) if your skin color does not match that of the majority, you should not trust what a doctor tells you.

[0] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180518-the-inequality-i...

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/03/well/live/when-doctors-do...

[2] https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/doctors-gasl...

[3] https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qvedxd/doctors-dont-alway...

Re: We’re a Lot Better at Fighting Cancer Than We Realized

#139

Post by callmeal »

chromatin wrote: post #28
callmeal wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I'm curious about what kind of cancer masquerades as iron deficiency, an infection, and a benign tumor? The kind of cancer where the patient can be easily dismissed by the doctor because of course they know best.

Thanks for your insightful contribution to the thread. I also hope to hear from the original poster about the type of cancer, because the story is interesting.

I don't know if you're being straight or that was sarcasm. In any case, here's some links for you:

[0] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180518-the-inequality-i...

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/03/well/live/when-doctors-do...

[2] https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/doctors-gasl...

[3] https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qvedxd/doctors-dont-alway...

Re: We’re a Lot Better at Fighting Cancer Than We Realized

#140

Post by twunde »

trynewideas wrote: post #103
twunde wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

About the 40k bills, I would suggest not paying them immediately and talking to your insurance company regularly (yes, it's exhausting and a PITA). Because of their slower systems, they're probably doing billing calculations on a monthly cycle so if you got multiple bills within a time period, their systems haven't realized that you've hit your out of pocket max (in engineering terms you've got multiple concurrent pr…

Yeah, we're pushing back on it, and I'm dead lucky to not only have an employer, but one that's provided some legal assistance so far. If anyone wants to turn this thread back around to "what can tech companies do", it's extending legal and financial services to employees who have their backs to the wall in situations like this. I liked my manager before this, a lot, but I'd take a barrage of bullets for her now.

Actually for anyone who finds themselves in a situation like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/b01179/som... has some great advice. And if you work for a tech company, many are able to really help you (since most tech companies skew young and healthy, ie low-risk, they are able to really push on the insurance companies). I know of at least one case at AppNexus a few years ago
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