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Drug trio found to block tumour resistance in pancreatic cancer in mouse models

drugtargetreview.com

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Re: Drug trio found to block tumour resistance in pancreatic cancer in mouse models

#51
post #43

IN MICE. (To be fair, also IN SOME OTHER BETTER MICE). https://jamesheathers.medium.com/in-mice-explained-77b61b598... (mostly a joke, but I'd be in favor of adding context to the HN headline if possible)

I wonder how long until we'll start seeing these breakthrough cancer treatment articles for clinical trials done in dogs. Oncologists think dog research is a better fit than mice because of greater genetic similarities to humans and the fact that pet dogs live in similar environments as their owners. I think in general people definitely wouldn't be as ok with inducing cancer in dogs as in mice, but finding volunteers…

That's interesting because rodents and apes share a more recent common ancestor (75Mya) than dogs and apes (85 Mya).

Re: Drug trio found to block tumour resistance in pancreatic cancer in mouse models

#52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because research on real humans and real diseases is exceptionally difficult. Clinical research is notoriously expensive, results are likely to differ from non-human (preclinical) models, and trials take forever to get started, gather enough data, and get a drug actually reviewed and approved. So even when everyone is excited by the preclinical data, there are so many barriers (both scientific and non-scientific) tha…

We really should be able to grow human bodies without a brain for testing purposes. It’s gruesome but realistically victimless at the end of the day.

We have the next best thing: organoids.

Re: Drug trio found to block tumour resistance in pancreatic cancer in mouse models

#53
post #14

It's funny how many years of "X found to be effective in fighting cancer" stories have filtered through HN and then you never hear about it again. The research at treating mouse cancer has been making great strides--people cancer still has a long way to go though.

The stories are written for a general audience and often lack detail or nuance. "Promising" doesn't mean "likely". "Possible breakthrough" is not a breakthrough. And it may just mean we learn something that we don't know today.

I lost my wife to metastatic melanoma a few years ago. Words used in reference to cancer are often terms of art that have a distinct meaning from the general meaning. Her particular cancer was pretty awful and lacked mutations that allowed for the use of targeted therapy that buy time. Even still, her chances of survival were about 65% in 2023 as compared to 0% in 2013. Unfortunately, the odds didn't end in her favor, despite the incredible efforts of a team of doctors at a national cancer center.

Anything with cancer research and treatment is an testament to standing on the shoulders of those who came before. Many people suffered to give my Molly those odds - she had hope where many others had nothing. And today, we have trials of custom vaccines that will offer others more hope and perhaps safer treatment. Perhaps in some small way her journey and ideal helped those or other developments. That's all we have.

Re: Drug trio found to block tumour resistance in pancreatic cancer in mouse models

#54

> Clinical implications: While more research will be needed before trials in humans can begin Why? Seriously, think about it. Most people with pancreatic cancer have nothing to lose and many of them have just weeks or months to live. Daraxonrasib, Afatinib, and SD36 are molecules that can already be purchased in bulk, and what's the worst that can happen? Our society's morbid, irrational fear of quack medicine causes…

Yeah putting myself in the shoes of someone with this disease or a loved one with this disease I would be so incredibly angry that we weren't allowed to try something when the alternative is certain death

It's the prisoner's dilemma. Or more succinctly:

Take something and possibly live, or take nothing and certainly die.

Re: Drug trio found to block tumour resistance in pancreatic cancer in mouse models

#55

> Clinical implications: While more research will be needed before trials in humans can begin Why? Seriously, think about it. Most people with pancreatic cancer have nothing to lose and many of them have just weeks or months to live. Daraxonrasib, Afatinib, and SD36 are molecules that can already be purchased in bulk, and what's the worst that can happen? Our society's morbid, irrational fear of quack medicine causes…

There are already many "compassionate use" exceptions out there already. I've family friends be grated that. It helps the pharma company as well as the patient. I'm sure that will happen here.

Re: Drug trio found to block tumour resistance in pancreatic cancer in mouse models

#56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah putting myself in the shoes of someone with this disease or a loved one with this disease I would be so incredibly angry that we weren't allowed to try something when the alternative is certain death

It's the prisoner's dilemma. Or more succinctly: Take something and possibly live, or take nothing and certainly die.

That's not what the prisoner’s dilemma is.

Re: Drug trio found to block tumour resistance in pancreatic cancer in mouse models

#57
Recently YouTube again started recommending to me channels of people who died of cancer.

I looked at a clip of a man just a few years my senior where he was describing the symptoms that in his view should have made him go see a doctor earlier, because maybe then his pancreatic cancer wouldn't have been fatal.

Truth be told they wouldn't raise any red flags if I had them.

Only thing that I'm doing differently is having blood tests done on an annual basis, but those only show anything when e.g. the cancer has spread to the liver, which is typically too late anyway. It's an incredibly insidious disease, and if the tumor is growing on the wrong end of the organ, it won't give any symptoms whatsoever.

Re: Drug trio found to block tumour resistance in pancreatic cancer in mouse models

#58
if that holds true in humans that would be a huge win. but it would be interesting at which stage those drugs still help. btw, it is said Chris Rea was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the age of 33, he died last year at he age of 74. it would be interesting to know what circumstance helped him to fight the cancer for such a long time

Re: Drug trio found to block tumour resistance in pancreatic cancer in mouse models

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The anti abortion and anti birth control contingent would never let even a little of that happen in countries with significant fundamentalist and Catholic voters. There are plenty of examples where these people force babies to be born without a brain on principle. Just recently https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/louisiana-woman-carryin... One can go back to something like Terri Schiavo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki…

What do you mean by "without a brain"? There are multiple examples in the literature of people leading perfectly ordinary lives whilst unknowingly having no more than 5% of the typical amount of brain matter (typically because of hydrocephalus). For example, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.7434023 from 1980.

They mean stuff like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anencephaly.

The brain is indeed incredibly resilient - some kids with serious epilepsy get an entire hemisphere taken out - but which 5% you're left with matters enormously.

Re: Drug trio found to block tumour resistance in pancreatic cancer in mouse models

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the prisoner's dilemma. Or more succinctly: Take something and possibly live, or take nothing and certainly die.

That's not what the prisoner’s dilemma is.

Yeah this is more like a Pascalian Gamble [1]. If you try nothing, then you are assured to die as God wanted. If you try something, then you might live, but then God hates you.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_wager

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