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AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

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Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#101

Post by ianlevesque »

latchkey wrote: post #73
kevinmchugh wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Watching my grandfather die with emphysema at age 12 was the only anti-smoking message I ever needed

Weirdly, my father who has smoked (and drank) daily his entire life (now 78), is still alive and kicking. Camel unfiltered and a lot of vodka. I never smoked and I was never a big drinker. But, I stopped drinking entirely a couple years ago cause it was just too painful to look at him with his current health issues, and think to myself that I'm going to end up like he is. No thanks, I don't need that poison.

About 20% of smokers escape that way. Enough for everyone to know one, but the odds are still not in your favor.

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#102

Post by JumpCrisscross »

pauln99 wrote: post #88
s1artibartfast wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, there are other cancers that are essentially cured. Lung cancer is a particularly nasty one for a number of reasons. It's hard to fight with the laws of physics or biology, so I'm curious who promised you something else. In general though, I tend to agree that in the US we spend far too much on what essentially boils down to performative end of Life Care. If you ask someone if they would rather spend $200…

"This year marks the 50th anniversary of the “War on Cancer” declared by Richard Nixon, a former President of the United States of America. By signing into law the National Cancer Act on December 23, 1971, Nixon hoped this action to be the landmark legislation taken by his administration. Nixon apparently had confidence that cancer would be conquered in 5 years." You're right, there are a small handful of unusual can…

> we don't have much to show for our efforts

This is mind-bogglingly wrong for most cancers. Several death sentences have been turned into treatable diseases.

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#103

Post by quantumwoke »

e40 wrote: post #44
genman wrote: post #3

It is about Osimertinib, sold under the brand name Tagrisso. It works (in “statistically significant and highly clinically meaningful” manner) against certain types of lung cancer when administered on early stage. It was provisionally approved after success in phase 1 trial by FDA in 2015 and by EMA in 2016. Side effects: Very common (greater than 10% of clinical trial subjects) adverse effects include diarrhea, stom…

The side effect you didn't mention: mouth sores. It's the only one that my wife had (in the first month). So far, no other problems, though the chemo started last week (see my comment about it, if curious).

That would probably be from the chemo your wife is on rather than the osimertinib. Chemo tends to cause mouth ulcers along with hair loss etc.

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#104

Post by nicoburns »

Xenoamorphous wrote: post #97
Scubabear68 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same with my dad in the 80s. His descent was horrible to witness, in my case at the age of 21. I’ll never know the truth, but I think his doctor took pity on him, dad died very shortly after a push of morphine.

I'll never understand how in this day and age we still allow people to die suffering this way. How come we are ok with euthanasia for pets but not people?

> How come we are ok with euthanasia for pets but not people?

I think because:

- It mostly wasn't an issue we had to deal with until recently because we didn't have the medical techniques to preserve people's lives so long anyway.

- There are some concerns around people being forced into it that require any laws enabling it to be carefully designed.

- Religion providing it's usual function of inertia around societal customs slowing the change.

Pretty much everyone I know under the age of 60 (and many older) support euthanasia for people who have dementia or some other unpleasant condition that affects their quality of life (self-determined, not forced on people), so I'm quietly confident that it will be happen soon.

I'll be pretty mad if it's not available for me if/when I get to the point that I want it!

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#105

Post by s1artibartfast »

pauln99 wrote: post #88
s1artibartfast wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, there are other cancers that are essentially cured. Lung cancer is a particularly nasty one for a number of reasons. It's hard to fight with the laws of physics or biology, so I'm curious who promised you something else. In general though, I tend to agree that in the US we spend far too much on what essentially boils down to performative end of Life Care. If you ask someone if they would rather spend $200…

"This year marks the 50th anniversary of the “War on Cancer” declared by Richard Nixon, a former President of the United States of America. By signing into law the National Cancer Act on December 23, 1971, Nixon hoped this action to be the landmark legislation taken by his administration. Nixon apparently had confidence that cancer would be conquered in 5 years." You're right, there are a small handful of unusual can…

Nixon hyped up some legislation 53 years ago, few believed the hype, and the hype was clear to the rest very shortly thereafter.

You are right that progress is slow and expensive in a lot of areas.

It seems you are frustrated or angry about it. What do you want people to do? Are we not spending enough on research? Are we spending too much?

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#106

Post by sizzle »

e40 wrote: post #38
formercoder wrote: post #15

My aunt was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and is only alive because of this drug. It’s a marvel of modern medicine.

My wife was diagnosed in Nov '23. Stage 4. She had a mutation that allowed Tagrisso/osimertinib. There are many mutations, but this one is prevalent in Asian women who have never smoked. There was a trial published just after her diagnosis that showed progression free survival at 2 years of 57% (chemo+osimertinib) vs 41% (osimertinib). https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2306434 She's 6 days into the chemo. T…

Can you refuse allowing residents to practice on you or your loved ones for better quality of care?

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#107

Post by lr4444lr »

Xenoamorphous wrote: post #97
Scubabear68 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same with my dad in the 80s. His descent was horrible to witness, in my case at the age of 21. I’ll never know the truth, but I think his doctor took pity on him, dad died very shortly after a push of morphine.

I'll never understand how in this day and age we still allow people to die suffering this way. How come we are ok with euthanasia for pets but not people?

Because pets are property. There is no concept of consent. Human consent to die vs. pathological suicidal ideation is a very tricky thing.

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#108

Post by arisAlexis »

Scubabear68 wrote: post #46
latchkey wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for sharing and sorry to hear that. My mom was only 56 (2004) and I got a call from the hospice very early in the morning. At her request, I had tried to take care of her myself for the couple weeks after her diagnosis, but once the hallucinations started, due to her increasing the pain meds, she started screaming one night and the neighbors called the police thinking I was abusing her. Thankfully, they called…

My family tried home care in the terminal stage, but it was too much for my mom and sister. My mom also had some serious mental illnesses, compounding the difficulty we had as a family. The trauma was so great I did not really hit a normal state of emotional and mental stability until I was about 30. I was the only one there as he took his last breath, and it still brings tears when I think about it.

Have you gotten therapy for that trauma?

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#109

Post by gosub100 »

Xenoamorphous wrote: post #97
Scubabear68 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same with my dad in the 80s. His descent was horrible to witness, in my case at the age of 21. I’ll never know the truth, but I think his doctor took pity on him, dad died very shortly after a push of morphine.

I'll never understand how in this day and age we still allow people to die suffering this way. How come we are ok with euthanasia for pets but not people?

It doesn't need to be legal to do it. People commit suicide all the time. The government doesn't need to be involved in each and every section of our lives, from cradle to grave.

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#110

Post by s1artibartfast »

sizzle wrote: post #106
e40 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife was diagnosed in Nov '23. Stage 4. She had a mutation that allowed Tagrisso/osimertinib. There are many mutations, but this one is prevalent in Asian women who have never smoked. There was a trial published just after her diagnosis that showed progression free survival at 2 years of 57% (chemo+osimertinib) vs 41% (osimertinib). https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2306434 She's 6 days into the chemo. T…

Can you refuse allowing residents to practice on you or your loved ones for better quality of care?

Sure, you can generally refuse any medical care in the US. With respect to residents, It can be as simple as asking and picking the right doctor for your procedure. Their credentials are generally public.
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