Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Death rates are declining for many common cancers in the U.S., report finds

statnews.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 99 posts

Re: Death rates are declining for many common cancers in the U.S., report finds

#81

Post by chefkoch »

gregwebs wrote: post #10
throwaway894345 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the interesting developments is precision medicine: we can now use genomic sequencing and AI to "search" for the treatment that is most likely to be effective against a particular individual's cancer rather than following the rough "standard of care" playbook (for example, depending on the type of cancer, the standard of care might be 6 months of chemo, and if that doesn't work try something else, repeat until…

> repeat until cancer goes away or patient dies This sounds very similar to participating in a clinical trial and to me ironically seems to be the opposite of precision medicine. The Nagourney Cancer Institute cultures live cancer cells from the patient to test for what drugs may work. Doesn't work for everyone, but seems more in line with precision. Whereas genomic sequencing hasn't produced the amazing results that…

> The Nagourney Cancer Institute cultures live cancer cells from the patient to test for what drugs may work.

That assumes you have time for this. Very often treatment is started within days or even hours of diagnosis.

Re: Death rates are declining for many common cancers in the U.S., report finds

#83

Post by Gibbon1 »

jghn wrote: post #69
sjg007 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unlikely. It will rule out treatments that are unlikely to work, saving money. What we are seeing is Simpson’s paradox. Genomics and precision medicine allow you to segment populations at a higher resolution then before.

Exactly. Insurance companies are very interested in Real World Data (RWD) around genomic based treatments. By using those data they can have a better sense of which patients would be likely to respond to which drugs, and steer treatment that way.

There another reason for genomic tests they also rule out the need for treatment. Either the tumor is benign or very low grade cancer.

Re: Death rates are declining for many common cancers in the U.S., report finds

#84

Post by Abishek_Muthian »

cancerhacker wrote: post #54

I created this account on July 28, 2014 [1] - I had(have?) stage IV Colon Cancer with liver metastases. I did a FOLFIRI regime with cetaximab, then a colon resection with a general surgeon. My oncologist was great (ucsf medical center) - but the surgeon refused to address my liver mets - they were too large and distributed. My wife found out about a specialist at Sloan-Kettering in Manhattan that uses something calle…

Thanks for sharing, Your fight is very inspiring.

>My company was very supportive and our health insurance picked up most of the cost - over US $2million (so far?)

This is the first time I'm hearing something good about a insurer in a very long time, That too for a such a large amount. I presume it's likely because you work for a large client and they're very supportive. I'm glad this is happening.

Meanwhile, I have bone related issues(Achondroplasia) and the insurers here(tied up major international brands) outright deny me a health insurance policy[1] against the guidelines of regulatory body and numerous supreme court verdicts on related scenarios.

After COVID disaster, It seems like the health insurers don't even try to wear their disingenuous masks anymore.

[1] https://abishekmuthian.com/insurers-are-putting-the-lives-of...

Re: Death rates are declining for many common cancers in the U.S., report finds

#85

Post by lambdaba »

0xF57A wrote: post #58

I wonder if someone could give me feedback on this. I heard that basically all cancer cells switch over to aerobic respiration, ie fermentation, and that in this metabolic mode they can use glucose and the amino acid glutamine as fuel but not ketones. So some people have treated their cancer by eating zero carbohydrates and taking a special drug that disables glutamine, doing so intermittently, and they have seen inc…

There are many successful examples with such a diet. Here's an account from a person who successfully treated inoperable and aggressive brain cancer with his own protocol, with only animal foods:

https://paleomedicina.com/en/every-patient-that-received-my-...

I urge people who are tempted to downvote to look up "Zsófia Clemens" and "Paleomedicina", and look into the "paleolithic ketogenic" protocol. Paleomedicina is run by researchers and doctors, and they are treating many "incurable" diseases, including cancer, with a very high fat ketogenic diet based on animal foods.

The most succint explanation I have can give about how it works is that it resolves gut permeability, and puts the patient in a very ketogenic state.

I myself am in remission from multiple sclerosis with such a diet.

If you look through on of the lead researchers' Twitter feed you'll see many examples of the resistance of mainstream medical journals to even publish their case reports https://twitter.com/ClemensZsofia/status/1413029877176020994

Re: Death rates are declining for many common cancers in the U.S., report finds

#88

Post by BlissWaves »

sharadov wrote: post #12

I agree, my dad was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2020. One of the drugs that he was given as part of the anti-cancer regimen "Avastin" - starves the tumor of blood supply, effectively limiting growth, this differs from conventional chemo which attacks both healthy and cancer cells. After 22 cycles, he went into remission earlier this year.

Yes, yes, yesssss. Amazing.

Re: Death rates are declining for many common cancers in the U.S., report finds

#89

Post by chrisseaton »

nradov wrote: post #61
chrisseaton wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They mean thinking about your diet, exercise, mental welling and other health issues. It doesn't literally mean 'clean' as in 'not dirty'.

That's so vague as to be meaningless.

Yet I could understand the meaning.

Re: Death rates are declining for many common cancers in the U.S., report finds

#90

Post by gambiting »

jhgb wrote: post #71
gambiting wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you kidding me????? My dad was diagnosed with a very rare type of stomach cancer called GIST at 42. The average survivability at that stage for GIST at that time was 6-12 months. Zero patients lived more than 5 years. He was given experimental(at the time) drug called Glivec as it was being tested specifically against GIST and it was literally one of these "there's nothing else, so might as well". He lived anothe…

To be honest, eight years is not what I'd imagine as "a few". That's actually quite a lot.

Yes, of course, but the point is that it wasn't known at the time when he was prescribed treatment. A "good" case for him would have been living another year, maybe two if lucky. The drug was experimental after all, and that it actually worked and gave him another 8 years of life was a huge medical achievement.
Post reply on HN