Cancer "Wonder Drug" Begins Human Trials 2014

Started by _Xenu_, July 12, 2013, 10:21:51 AM

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AllPurposeAtheist

They call em wonder drugs because they wonder if they'll work. 20 years later they find out one leg is shorter than the other.. Better recall the pills..  :-k
All hail my new signature!

Admit it. You're secretly green with envy.

Colanth

Quote from: "AllPurposeAtheist"They call em wonder drugs because they wonder if they'll work. 20 years later they find out one leg is shorter than the other.. Better recall the pills..  :-k
For someone who has only 6 months to live, 20 years with one leg a little short is a pretty good alternative.
Afflicting the comfortable for 70 years.
Science builds skyscrapers, faith flies planes into them.

Hydra009

Quote from: "AllPurposeAtheist"They call em wonder drugs because they wonder if they'll work. 20 years later they find out one leg is shorter than the other.. Better recall the pills..  :-k
And do you know this for a fact?   :-k

Mermaid

Quote from: "AllPurposeAtheist"They call em wonder drugs because they wonder if they'll work. 20 years later they find out one leg is shorter than the other.. Better recall the pills..  :-k
When developing therapeutics, we do the best we can. It's not perfect and things can happen. That doesn't make it not worthwhile, though.
A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticise work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life’s realities â€" all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority but of weakness. -TR

Mermaid

There are a lot of "wonder" drugs. I think one of these days, one of them will work. Until then, it is an educated shot in the dark. This approach has very much piqued my interest. I liked the idea of bispecific antibody, but that has fallen short most of the time. Using antibody to block surface proteins and allowing T cells to do what they are supposed to do has bigger implications, I think. I am left to wonder how healthy cells that express CD47 will be spared. Guessing they won't be. Will this drug have really profound side effects? I guess we'll see.
A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticise work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life’s realities â€" all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority but of weakness. -TR

Nonsensei

Quote from: "AllPurposeAtheist"They call em wonder drugs because they wonder if they'll work. 20 years later they find out one leg is shorter than the other.. Better recall the pills..  :-k

Hm, a shorter leg in 20 years or death. Tough choice.

Oh wait, it isn't.
And on the wings of a dream so far beyond reality
All alone in desperation now the time has come
Lost inside you\'ll never find, lost within my own mind
Day after day this misery must go on

Youssuf Ramadan

Hopefully something beneficial might come out of this.  I think APA is suggesting a hope that there isn't a 'thalidomide moment' in the future.  I wouldn't get too hung up on the short leg issue...  :lol:

josephpalazzo

I've heard of this several months ago. There's every reason to believe that it is a major discovery. The testing should give us the implications/reliabilities of this new drug.

Agramon

Quote from: "Mermaid"There are a lot of "wonder" drugs. I think one of these days, one of them will work. Until then, it is an educated shot in the dark. This approach has very much piqued my interest. I liked the idea of bispecific antibody, but that has fallen short most of the time. Using antibody to block surface proteins and allowing T cells to do what they are supposed to do has bigger implications, I think. I am left to wonder how healthy cells that express CD47 will be spared. Guessing they won't be. Will this drug have really profound side effects? I guess we'll see.
Me too. I wonder how any side effects will compare with the effects of chemotherapy.
"And, tricked by our own early dream
And need of solace, we grew self-deceived,
Our making soon our maker did we deem,
And what we had imagined we believed."
- Thomas Hardy

Mermaid

Quote from: "Youssuf Ramadan"Hopefully something beneficial might come out of this.  I think APA is suggesting a hope that there isn't a 'thalidomide moment' in the future.  I wouldn't get too hung up on the short leg issue...  :lol:
Thalidomide a very good example of why the FDA has the function and the authority it does have today.
http://blogs.fda.gov/fdavoice/index.php ... n-matters/
A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticise work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life’s realities â€" all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority but of weakness. -TR

Colanth

Quote from: "Mermaid"I am left to wonder how healthy cells that express CD47 will be spared. Guessing they won't be. Will this drug have really profound side effects? I guess we'll see.
The difference between my knowledge of this area and yours is like the difference between my keyboard's knowledge of poetry and mine, so please forgive what might be the most stupid question you've ever heard.

Do non-malignant cells express CD47?  At all?  (I wouldn't recognize the difference between CD47 and a Pontiac.)
Afflicting the comfortable for 70 years.
Science builds skyscrapers, faith flies planes into them.

Mermaid

Quote from: "Colanth"
Quote from: "Mermaid"I am left to wonder how healthy cells that express CD47 will be spared. Guessing they won't be. Will this drug have really profound side effects? I guess we'll see.
The difference between my knowledge of this area and yours is like the difference between my keyboard's knowledge of poetry and mine, so please forgive what might be the most stupid question you've ever heard.

Do non-malignant cells express CD47?  At all?  (I wouldn't recognize the difference between CD47 and a Pontiac.)
My knowledge of the incredibly complicated world of immunology amounts to one grad level class, a 2 year stint with an immunology project at work, and some passing interest, so I am certainly no expert in the field.

That is the opposite of a stupid question. It is a very good and relevant one. It is basically the single most important question to ask about a therapy like this.

Yes, healthy body cells do express CD47. Lots of cells involved in immunity have these proteins on their surface, and put in a very overly simple way, these act like keys that allow them to perform some function like sticking to surfaces, migrating across membranes, growing, etc.

Tumor cells can express an abnormal amount of this kind of protein, I think that is why they targeted it in the first place. Hey, these tumor cells seem to have so much of this protein, what happens if we block it?
A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticise work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life’s realities â€" all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority but of weakness. -TR

Colanth

Thank you.  Too bad malignant cells don't express some unique feature.  Then H5N1 flu would be far more serious than cancer.
Afflicting the comfortable for 70 years.
Science builds skyscrapers, faith flies planes into them.

hillbillyatheist

I just hope it works. I've lost several family members and friends to cancer. the day its official cured, will be one of the happiest in my life.
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