a cure for cancer?

[tonorator]

 

A cancer patient has made a full recovery after being injected with billions of his own immune cells in the first case of its kind, doctors have disclosed. The 52-year-old, who was suffering from advanced skin cancer, was free from tumours within eight weeks of undergoing the procedure.

 

After two years he is still free from the disease which had spread to his lymph nodes and one of his lungs.

 

Doctors took cells from the man's own defence system that were found to attack the cancer cells best, cloned them and injected back into his body, in a process known as "immunotherapy".

 

Experts said that the case could mark a landmark in the treatment of cancer.

[Double Agent]

I hope this is true. Would be great news.

[Fatman]

Man, that would be phenomenal. Wretched disease...

[peepinmofo]

I thought this was a way we can get Water Man banned... I guess this is just as good of news.

[Chargerz]

A promising result but there's still alot of work to do to refine this technique. If this is really effective, look for it to be available at most cancer treatment centers in 5-10 years.

[Rebellab]

Wha Hoo!! Break out the cigs and throw away the sunscreen.

 

In all seriousness this is wonderful news, I hope they are able to repeat it

[nuke'em ttg]

A promising result but there's still alot of work to do to refine this technique. If this is really effective, look for it to be available at most cancer treatment centers in 5-10 years.

 

alot of people with nothin to lose would prolly jump on it today......hopefully that speeds up the process ....fingerscrossed

[I Like Soup]

Awesome. I for one think cancer is the number one disease man should be targeting to beat.

[WaterMan]

I thought this was a way we can get Water Man banned... I guess this is just as good of news.

 

They just abandoned ship like in Pirates.

[TDFFFreak]

I think we can all agree that something of this magnitude would be one of the best things science has ever gifted us with. Here's to hoping. It sounds too good to be true.

Edited June 22, 2008 by TDFFFreak

[cliaz]

A promising result but there's still alot of work to do to refine this technique. If this is really effective, look for it to be available at most cancer treatment centers in 5-10 years.

 

 

alot of people with nothin to lose would prolly jump on it today......hopefully that speeds up the process ....fingerscrossed

 

I have reservations on using billions cloned immune cells. However, because they are from the patients own system I am not too concerned. Cloning is an amazing technological leap for humans and I, for one, am a HUGE fan of medical technology. But my concerns with this process are:

 

-Cloning cells - even though the cell is an identical match we have already learned that cloning animals (which are identical matches) leads to premature death in the cloned animals, spontaneous abortions in the host/mother animal, organ failure in the cloned animal, low immune systems, etc etc,. Even though whole animals are vastly more complex than an immune cell - the same theories hold here for me. these cloned cells could have significant issues with them, up to and including turning malignant in the human host. I agree with the Doc -- there is still a lot of work to do just in testing the cloned cells.

 

-What would injecting billions and billions of these particular immune cells into your body do to you in the long run? If the human body was suppose to have billions of these particular cells in it - then we wouldn't need to clone them in the first place. We are messing with a design that evolution took hundreds of thousands of years to create. There is a reason why our bodies do not hold that many of that particular immune cell so this would be a huge red flag for me.

 

Don't get me wrong - it is freaking amazing - I just think 5-10 is too soon to bring cloning /genetic therapy of this type into production. This really needs to be looked at very closely.

[I Like Soup]

I have reservations on using billions cloned immune cells. However, because they are from the patients own system I am not too concerned. Cloning is an amazing technological leap for humans and I, for one, am a HUGE fan of medical technology. But my concerns with this process are:

 

-Cloning cells - even though the cell is an identical match we have already learned that cloning animals (which are identical matches) leads to premature death in the cloned animals, spontaneous abortions in the host/mother animal, organ failure in the cloned animal, low immune systems, etc etc,. Even though whole animals are vastly more complex than an immune cell - the same theories hold here for me. these cloned cells could have significant issues with them, up to and including turning malignant in the human host. I agree with the Doc -- there is still a lot of work to do just in testing the cloned cells.

 

Cloning a single cell and cloning an entire animal and the expectations that the entire biosystem within that animal is going to function together correctly is night and day, in my opinion. The scope of cloning a single cell is orders of magnitude different.

 

-What would injecting billions and billions of these particular immune cells into your body do to you in the long run? If the human body was suppose to have billions of these particular cells in it - then we wouldn't need to clone them in the first place. We are messing with a design that evolution took hundreds of thousands of years to create. There is a reason why our bodies do not hold that many of that particular immune cell so this would be a huge red flag for me.

 

Good question. I, for one, if faced with debilitating cancer wouldn't really give a rats ass about the long term effects. If the long term effects are bad, net net you are dead anyway. I'd give it a try. I'm not going to tell someone they can't do it. And, we have been messing with our evolutionary make up for some time now, no need to start getting worried about it now.

Don't get me wrong - it is freaking amazing - I just think 5-10 is too soon to bring cloning /genetic therapy of this type into production. This really needs to be looked at very closely.

[darin3]

 

Funny, just watched the move The Island on the plane ride home from Cali last night.

[SheikYerbuti]

-What would injecting billions and billions of these particular immune cells into your body do to you in the long run?

 

 

Why don't you ask a person who is dying of cancer if they're willing to risk an unknown "long run" for technology that could possibly SAVE THEIR LIFE.

 

The long term side-effects of new technology are unknown. The long term side effects of cancer are DEATH.

 

 

Which would you pick?

[cliaz]

Why don't you ask a person who is dying of cancer if they're willing to risk an unknown "long run" for technology that could possibly SAVE THEIR LIFE.

 

The long term side-effects of new technology are unknown. The long term side effects of cancer are DEATH.

 

 

Which would you pick?

 

 

Chil-lax sparky. I'm not speaking of the individual person, I'm speaking on the general release of this method and on the ethical side of it, not on the person "dying". But to answer your question, I do know two people [indirectly] who have chosen to live the remainder of their time with their family and friends instead of taking treatment which would most likely not put the cancer in remission. Sometimes the treatment is worse than the cancer.

 

but on a different note - I watched this thing on discovery health where a lady had an aneurysm deep in her brain where it wouldn't be operated on. In Phoenix arizona there was a Dr who had developed this very insane method of operating on aneurysms and tumors that were so deep in the brain. Basically he hooked up his patients to a heart and lung machine and would cool the blood down to around 70 or 60 degrees. As the body went into hypothermia he would give the patient a shot of potassium to stop the heart then completely drain the body of blood. Effectively killing the woman. Once she was dead - he opened up the brain - separated the lobes and cut out the aneurysm. Then he brought her back to life.

 

Its a very risky process. I think the show said that the woman had a 50% change of not making it. She did though.

 

Medical technology, IMHO, is more advanced than our space program. I really hope this new cancer treatment is what it seems. I know i felt that way about the vitamin C shots.

 

Edit - oh and I would choose to try the method of the cloned cells.

Edited June 22, 2008 by cliaz

[SheikYerbuti]

I'm not speaking of the individual person, I'm speaking on the general release of this method

 

They're not a seperate issue. When my sister was fighting cancer, the doctors gave her a group of treament choices, and gave her the prognosis for each. Anything that was generally released was then up to the choice of the patient. I want patients to have as many choices as possible, as long as they're aware of the risks involved in each treatment and the amount of testing that's been done on those treatments. General release equals patient choice.

 

I do know two people [indirectly] who have chosen to live the remainder of their time with their family and friends instead of taking treatment which would most likely not put the cancer in remission.

 

If the treatment has a small to no percentage chance of working, and will more than likely just be prolonged torture for the patient, then treatment should be a choice of the patient.

 

but on a different note - I watched this thing on discovery health where a lady had an aneurysm deep in her brain where it wouldn't be operated on. In Phoenix arizona there was a Dr who had developed this very insane method of operating on aneurysms and tumors that were so deep in the brain. Basically he hooked up his patients to a heart and lung machine and would cool the blood down to around 70 or 60 degrees. As the body went into hypothermia he would give the patient a shot of potassium to stop the heart then completely drain the body of blood. Effectively killing the woman. Once she was dead - he opened up the brain - separated the lobes and cut out the aneurysm. Then he brought her back to life.

 

Its a very risky process. I think the show said that the woman had a 50% change of not making it. She did though.

 

Medical technology, IMHO, is more advanced than our space program. I really hope this new cancer treatment is what it seems. I know i felt that way about the vitamin C shots.

 

Edit - oh and I would choose to try the method of the cloned cells.

 

It sounds like the woman with the aneurysm agreed with me, and it sounds like you agree with me as well. Therefore I am now chil-laxed.

[cliaz]

They're not a seperate issue. When my sister was fighting cancer, the doctors gave her a group of treament choices, and gave her the prognosis for each. Anything that was generally released was then up to the choice of the patient. I want patients to have as many choices as possible, as long as they're aware of the risks involved in each treatment and the amount of testing that's been done on those treatments. General release equals patient choice.

 

Sweet pea, please re-read my post. If you need me to type slower for you I will but you are assuming I'm talking about one thing when I am not.

 

If the treatment has a small to no percentage chance of working, and will more than likely just be prolonged torture for the patient, then treatment should be a choice of the patient.

 

So you are pretty much saying what I said.

 

It sounds like the woman with the aneurysm agreed with me, and it sounds like you agree with me as well. Therefore I am now chil-laxed.

 

Never said I wasn't agreeing with you to a point. I think you are missing the entire point of my post. I am saying that before we all start getting excited that we have found a cure for cancer - we need to really study using genetic engineerings side effects. Do you know what makes cancer so hard for the body to fight? the cancer cells generally have - to a point- the same genetic makeup of the body. So the immune system in some cases has an issue with it. Cloning billions of a particular immune cell and then injecting them into a human body that was not designed to house that many, let alone replicated one, can be a very big issue. You come right out of left field with:

 

Why don't you ask a person who is dying of cancer if they're willing to risk an unknown "long run" for technology that could possibly SAVE THEIR LIFE.

 

So, no they are not the same thing. It is not released for general use as a method for fighting cancer. If a patient is presented with this option and they are told that there are no guarantees nor does the medical community know what the long term effects are of this treatment and the patient says yes, then it is all good. I, again, am saying before we all get excited it needs more testing.

 

Clear?

[nuke'em ttg]

shootin up with your "own" cloned immune cells doesn't sound like it would have any major side effects.......

[Pope Flick]

I'm with Cliaz - we cannot go willy nilly setting up cloning factories simply in the name if science of saving peoples lives in the short term. There's something Brave New World about a money making industry using cloning technology - and it cuts to the question of what type of people are we?

[SheikYerbuti]

I think you are missing the entire point of my post.

 

I love when anyone disagrees, even slightly, with someone's posts, then the reader has ENTIRELY MISSED THE POSTER'S POINT! Like you were talking about cancer research and I suddenly started posting about the ice cream man.

 

And save the condescending tone. It makes you look petty and defensive.

[I Like Soup]

And save the condescending tone. It makes you look petty and defensive.

Good info here.

[cliaz]

I love when anyone disagrees, even slightly, with someone's posts, then the reader has ENTIRELY MISSED THE POSTER'S POINT! Like you were talking about cancer research and I suddenly started posting about the ice cream man.

 

And save the condescending tone. It makes you look petty and defensive.

 

 

Nice. You still say you disagree with my post yet you are talking about something different than I was

 

and, eh hello how long have you been on these boards? of course i'm petty and defensive.

[Thews40]

Why don't you ask a person who is dying of cancer if they're willing to risk an unknown "long run" for technology that could possibly SAVE THEIR LIFE.

 

The long term side-effects of new technology are unknown. The long term side effects of cancer are DEATH.

 

 

Which would you pick?

After surviving bone cancer at 15 (she lost her knee), my daughter was diagnosed with leukemia (3% of all cancer survivors get leukemia from the chemo) at 19. She’s now nearing 100 days and is in complete remission after a bone marrow transplant. Her doctors are very smart humans… the best in the biz. The guy that actually gave her the marrow transplant was a pioneer and literally wrote the book.

 

Cancer is long process where they use statistics to determine what works the best. They give one control group one set of drugs, and another control group the same cocktail but with a twist. After they track survival rates of each group, the process slowly changes. They use the data and just keep shot gunning. My daughter was part of a group that used herceptin during her first chemo. It's a breast cancer drung that is genetically engineered to attack high protien cells. Breast cancer is high protien, so that's how it works. My daughter's tumor was also high in protien, so she went into that control group. I always told the doctors to make the decisions as if my daughter was their daughter. They're great people... she was cured, so there's no real way to tell if it helped or not.

 

During my daughter’s leukemia treatment, her Doctor wanted to use cocktail A with a twist. My insurance disallowed it, because it was considered “experiential”. The doc told me he thought long and hard about it, and he was close to 50/50 anyway so he didn’t think too much about it. It worked, and my daughter has a completely different (donor) immune system right now.

 

Anyway, news like this sounds great, but there’s accounts of people that use holistic approaches and cure cancer (I heard Eddie Van Halen’s wife used it on his lip cancer). I guess the point I’m making is all this stuff is working. My daughter’s first Dr. told me that if I had what she had at 15, he would have cut my leg off and given me a 20% chance to live. Yes my daughter has a prosthetic knee, but her leg is still hers… it’s really amazing… I feel so blessed. Here’s to smart people

[TDFFFreak]

After surviving bone cancer at 15 (she lost her knee), my daughter was diagnosed with leukemia (3% of all cancer survivors get leukemia from the chemo) at 19. She’s now nearing 100 days and is in complete remission after a bone marrow transplant. Her doctors are very smart humans… the best in the biz. The guy that actually gave her the marrow transplant was a pioneer and literally wrote the book.

 

Cancer is long process where they use statistics to determine what works the best. They give one control group one set of drugs, and another control group the same cocktail but with a twist. After they track survival rates of each group, the process slowly changes. They use the data and just keep shot gunning. My daughter was part of a group that used herceptin during her first chemo. It's a breast cancer drung that is genetically engineered to attack high protien cells. Breast cancer is high protien, so that's how it works. My daughter's tumor was also high in protien, so she went into that control group. I always told the doctors to make the decisions as if my daughter was their daughter. They're great people... she was cured, so there's no real way to tell if it helped or not.

 

During my daughter’s leukemia treatment, her Doctor wanted to use cocktail A with a twist. My insurance disallowed it, because it was considered “experiential”. The doc told me he thought long and hard about it, and he was close to 50/50 anyway so he didn’t think too much about it. It worked, and my daughter has a completely different (donor) immune system right now.

 

Anyway, news like this sounds great, but there’s accounts of people that use holistic approaches and cure cancer (I heard Eddie Van Halen’s wife used it on his lip cancer). I guess the point I’m making is all this stuff is working. My daughter’s first Dr. told me that if I had what she had at 15, he would have cut my leg off and given me a 20% chance to live. Yes my daughter has a prosthetic knee, but her leg is still hers… it’s really amazing… I feel so blessed. Here’s to smart people

Agree 100%. Unfortunately, the treatment didn't work for my father, but if it saves one life, gives hope, or reduces the suffering of many, I don't care what the downside may be short of hurting other people.