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Moderna reports first positive Phase 3 for mRNA neoantigen therapy in melanoma

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Re: Moderna reports first positive Phase 3 for mRNA neoantigen therapy in melanoma

#261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a while (like a year+ ago), the shares were trading around cash value. But they were burning through cash. Happy it’s worked out for them!

Many people, including myself, often take pot-shots at "big pharma." But, this just seems like a win-win, for the org and humanity. They believed in their tech, rode it out, and we all came out the better for it.

Often the case with big pharma. I for one will never join in on the populist backlash against those that make livesaving pharmaceuticals for us.

Re: Moderna reports first positive Phase 3 for mRNA neoantigen therapy in melanoma

#262
post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They told my father Chemo woudl add six months on his six month estimated lifespan. He died in two months cause the chemo blocked his liver. My sister in law was a chemo nurse and begged him not to get it. He died on loads of morphine. His last words were "It's all a scam!" Sorry, you have no idea. Talk to a chemo nurse.

Huh? How would chemo "block his liver"? Do you mean that he had a liver metastasis that the chemo didn't help with?

[dead]

Re: Moderna reports first positive Phase 3 for mRNA neoantigen therapy in melanoma

#263

This is great news! I think people forget how anti-skin cancer protocols even as simple as applying suntan lotion weren't as popular as recent as 50-60 years ago. Lots of "sun children" of the 50s and 60s are now feeling the repercussions of only applying baby oil and are getting hit with lots of melanoma.

+1. Also, just to call out, it doesn't need to be _warm_ for you to need sunblock. Even when it's cooler / cloudier out there you can still get skin damage. Look for UV rating rather than temperature. Conversely, it being hot doesn't imply high-UV either.

I got the worst sunburn of my life while skiing in Colorado. I wasn’t wearing goggles or anything on my face, and the sun plus the reflection off the snow was brutal. I didn’t notice it when I was out there, but the next morning I wasn’t able to open my eyes. Lesson learned.

Re: Moderna reports first positive Phase 3 for mRNA neoantigen therapy in melanoma

#264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cancer treatment is different. We have a high tolerance for side effects because many cancers are aggressive and deadly. It's a risk-analysis. If your odds of dying from cancer in the next year are 50%, and the drugs have a 25% chance of killing you, then the drugs are worth it. In actuality, even extremely aggressive therapies like high-dose chemotherapy with stem-cell transplant have shockingly low risk of death. L…

See my comments below on Vioxx - even the manufacturers admitted covid shots caused myocarditis in young men - why are you so sure this new therapy won't cause the same issues, or worse ?

Covid itself has a higher risk of myocarditis than the covid vaccine.

And even if it did, it doesn't matter. You didn't read my comment at all. There are cancer treatments which can kill you outright, I know because I've received them. I think maybe you don't understand what cancer is. We can be very aggressive with the treatments. We have much, much bigger fish to fry than a small risk of myocarditis.

Re: Moderna reports first positive Phase 3 for mRNA neoantigen therapy in melanoma

#265
post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes every cancer is different, responds to different therapy, and with different survival rates. However, cancer treatment, as a whole, works. Oncologists do not prescribe incredibly intense treatments like chemotherapy out of nowhere. Chemotherapy is often not curative. Instead, it's used to both prolong life and improve quality of life. Dying from late-stage cancer is often painful and miserable. It might be shocki…

They told my father Chemo woudl add six months on his six month estimated lifespan. He died in two months cause the chemo blocked his liver. My sister in law was a chemo nurse and begged him not to get it. He died on loads of morphine. His last words were "It's all a scam!" Sorry, you have no idea. Talk to a chemo nurse.

Talk to a chemo nurse? I've gotten two different chemo regimens. Yes, I know chemo has a risk because all medicine has a risk. I'm sorry for what happened to your father, but that doesn't fucking mean chemo is a scam. It saves lives, I should know.

Re: Moderna reports first positive Phase 3 for mRNA neoantigen therapy in melanoma

#266
post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My goal is to 1) not reward these companies by over inflating phase 3 clinical trial outcomes and 2) to not fear a skin cancer diagnosis and 3) not live your life in a bubble while polluting the world with sunscreen. Sun exposure does not cause skin cancer. It only increases the risk of skin cancer in some people. Look at the ROI on people's behavior and it makes no sense. Are we actually causing more damage by using…

There are truths in there, but you seem to be looking only for evidence that supports your beliefs (and misreading evidence against your beliefs) instead of tailoring your beliefs based on evidence. Additionally you make blanket, definitive assertions like "sun exposure does not cause skin cancer" which no one should be listening to Multiple things can be true at the same time: 1. Skin cancer can be successfully trea…

I did not say that the sun does not increase the risk of skin cancer. I did say it does not cause skin cancer. Do you understand the distinction I’m making? “Cause” can only be determined when the event has already happened. And even in the case of the sun causing someone’s skin cancer, it is not the only variable.

https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(20)30092-1/abs...

My argument is that higher vitamin D will help a person’s life more than any increase of risk of skin cancer one would get from exposure to the sun.

Re: Moderna reports first positive Phase 3 for mRNA neoantigen therapy in melanoma

#267
A comment from Derek Lowe:

https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/merck-and-moderna-...

>Postscript: Our Secretary of Health and Human Services of course cancelled $500 million in mRNA vaccine R&D contracts (22 different programs) last year, and cited a pile of misinformation (and cluelessly misunderstood research citations) to justify it. Our Director of the National Institutes of Health was apparently just fine with this decision and cited mRNA vaccines’ alleged failure to “earn public trust” as one of his reasons, along with public statements that “the mRNA platform is no longer viable”. I have a number of suggestions for each of these individuals and their supporters about how they might spend the rest of their day, and will be glad to send details if they contact me.

Re: Moderna reports first positive Phase 3 for mRNA neoantigen therapy in melanoma

#268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many people, including myself, often take pot-shots at "big pharma." But, this just seems like a win-win, for the org and humanity. They believed in their tech, rode it out, and we all came out the better for it.

Often the case with big pharma. I for one will never join in on the populist backlash against those that make livesaving pharmaceuticals for us.

Yeah, this is a win. US pricing for insulin and asthma inhalers, not so much.

Re: Moderna reports first positive Phase 3 for mRNA neoantigen therapy in melanoma

#269
post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They told my father Chemo woudl add six months on his six month estimated lifespan. He died in two months cause the chemo blocked his liver. My sister in law was a chemo nurse and begged him not to get it. He died on loads of morphine. His last words were "It's all a scam!" Sorry, you have no idea. Talk to a chemo nurse.

Huh? How would chemo "block his liver"? Do you mean that he had a liver metastasis that the chemo didn't help with?

Chemotherapy can damage many organs including the liver. See "Organ Damage" on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemotherapy

A friend's sister beat colon cancer over ten years ago but now is having liver problems that took a while to pin down. They warned her she'd probably die in a couple years from the cancer without Chemo, but would have this risk long term and it recently showed up.

Re: Moderna reports first positive Phase 3 for mRNA neoantigen therapy in melanoma

#270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but OP said that in response to a comment attributing melanoma to sun exposure, in a conversation where nobody had brought up SCC or BCC. It's still a misleading comment, in my opinion.

> Yes, but OP said that in response to a comment attributing melanoma to sun exposure, in a conversation where nobody had brought up SCC or BCC. In a thread about a trial for a melanoma drug, which has nothing to do with the discussion of sunscreen. Sunscreen was brought up because it is a culture-war topic, the fact that melanomas are not as associated with sun exposure was brought up as the standard opposite-side r…

I think the problem is that it takes 30 years for the effects to start showing.

This data [1] shows incidence of melanoma by the age of 30 dropping by half in Australia, presumably as a result of a sun safety campaign that started in the late 80s (not just encouraging sunscreen but also more shade, hats, covering up, etc.). Yet melanoma rates here in general increase but it’s more and more skewed towards the older.

1. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-data-in-austra...

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