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New treatment eliminates bladder cancer in 82% of patients

news.keckmedicine.org

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Re: New treatment eliminates bladder cancer in 82% of patients

#131

Post by gwerbret »

Some important things not mentioned in this press release (not to detract from the idea of new treatment approaches of any sort):

- All patients had their tumors surgically removed before they were started on treatment. Thus the trial wasn't testing cure so much as delay of recurrence.

- These were very superficial tumors, meaning they were growing on the very surface of the inner bladder, just like skin tags. These aren't the ones that kill people. Patients with superficial bladder cancer who don't respond to BCG can be treated for quite a while just by having the tumors surgically removed whenever they recur (using a minimally-invasive procedure known as a transurethral resection of bladder tumors, TURBT).

- Fun with words: the press release called this a clinical trial, but it's not -- it has no controls, no real statistics, no randomization, none of the things that make up the usual standard in medicine. The authors of the paper call it a "study", which is basically a research experiment. They don't use the word "trial" at all in the paper.

Having said all that, I still look forward to seeing a proper trial.

Edit: wordsmithing.

Re: New treatment eliminates bladder cancer in 82% of patients

#132

Post by amanaplanacanal »

tracker1 wrote: post #108
amanaplanacanal wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That link isn't very helpful, as it's a huge document. Which section limits the speech of people on visas? From what I can see that entire document is about whether someone can get a visa, not what they are allowed to say once they are in country. Further one section says that visa applicants can't be denied entry for their previous speech if that speech is legal for American citizens.

Below are the key sections of law and regulations that may limit a visa holder's speech: 1. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) - 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3): - Relevant Provision: This section lists grounds for inadmissibility, including engaging in activities that threaten U.S. national security, such as espionage, terrorism, or other unlawful activities. Speech that is deemed to support or advocate for terrorism or te…

I have no idea what that mass of text is a quote from, since you didn't say. I suspect it's all bullshit. Really it doesn't matter. This stuff is in the courts now, and I expect they will find it unconstitutional, as they should.

Re: New treatment eliminates bladder cancer in 82% of patients

#133

Post by ltbarcly3 »

tptacek wrote: post #129
ltbarcly3 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you read every article? How do you decide which is worth reading?

Before I slag them, I do.

I didn't slag the article? I gave constructive reasons the title could be better.

Re: New treatment eliminates bladder cancer in 82% of patients

#134

Post by ltbarcly3 »

tptacek wrote: post #127
ltbarcly3 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you understand my point, i don't have two specific concerns lol.

The former point you made simply isn't addressed by the study, and the latter point effectively increases the percentage of patients that can be put in full remission; you're right, it's not 82% of all NMIBC cases, it's a superset of that number.

My point was that the title didn't contain enough context. The examples of 'improved' titles were purely demonstrative of titles that have some extra context to motivate what is special about this treatment - as in they are just made up to show what a good title would provide to give more context. You are missing the point completely.

Re: New treatment eliminates bladder cancer in 82% of patients

#135

Post by amanaplanacanal »

wrs wrote: post #124
tracker1 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Below are the key sections of law and regulations that may limit a visa holder's speech: 1. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) - 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3): - Relevant Provision: This section lists grounds for inadmissibility, including engaging in activities that threaten U.S. national security, such as espionage, terrorism, or other unlawful activities. Speech that is deemed to support or advocate for terrorism or te…

That was a lot to read to still not see a prohibition against "making waves".

I think some people are staunch defenders of free speech, until it comes to speech they don't like. And here we are.

Re: New treatment eliminates bladder cancer in 82% of patients

#138

Post by MisterMower »

cowmix wrote: post #130
MisterMower wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Government bankrolls innovation? What are you talking about? This has never been true and isn’t true currently. At best all government can do is get out of the way so that private actors can solve problems and innovate. At worst it strangles innovators through higher taxes and more stringent regulation. Look at the light bulb, locomotive engine, airplane, etc. Government involvement in major innovations is almost alw…

OMG you are right. Look at the Internet for instance.

Yes, built by those amazing government entities named Cisco, Nortel, Motorola, Netscape, etc.

Re: New treatment eliminates bladder cancer in 82% of patients

#139

Post by MisterMower »

apical_dendrite wrote: post #74
MisterMower wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re right, those bright, talented kids will just give up and quit their careers because US government funding has been reduced for research in their field. It’s so sad that the only way innovation can happen is if it’s funded by the government.

Just yesterday, I had a conversation with an MD/PhD at one of the major teaching hospitals in Boston. There is a lot of uncertainty right now - a lot of funding has already been lost, and there are real risks around more funding being lost in the future (just as one example, the administration's plans to limit reimbursement rates will cost the Boston area teaching hospitals hundreds of millions a year in research fun…

Keep going: and then those kids will just roll over and get burger flipping jobs instead?

Motivated, intelligent people will build things and innovate whether tax dollars are involved in funding their research or not.

If the work is valuable, some non-government entity will fund it. Otherwise it should die.

Re: New treatment eliminates bladder cancer in 82% of patients

#140

Post by const_cast »

codr7 wrote: post #50
tomsto wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Emphatically so, yes

Return customers generate more profit.

People say this because it sounds right and dramatic, but if they knew and understood what cancer is, they'd understand why treating it is so hard.

For those unconvinced, cancer is your own bodies cells gone rogue and trying to kill you. Now, this happens all the time. Luckily, our immune system is awesome and catches it.

Cancer is when your immune system does not catch it. it's invisible, indistinguishable from your skin cells or your lung cells. Its not like the flu or pneumonia - there is no foreign body, there is no attacker. Its you.

So then treatment means we need to kill living, actively reproducing cells in the human body. Well, a fire can do that.

The trick is, how do you kill the cancer cells, which your own immune system cannot even distinguish as cancer cells, but not harm your normal cells?

Turns out that's very hard and very grueling. Chemo is very effective, but you still lose your hair and damage just about all your organs in the process.

And, for the record, we do have "one off" cures for cancer - surgery. Just cut it out. The trouble is cells are microscopic and there's billions of them. Rarely will they be so perfectly contained you can get them all in one go. No, you miss some, and they sit there, growing, until the cancer is detectable again. And they move, they use your own blood and lymphatic system as a highway.

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