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| Science & Technology | |
| New drug 'wakes up' immune system to fight one of deadliest cancers | |
| 2016-09-07 | |
| [Guardian] A new drug that "wakes up" the immune system to attack cancer has extended the lives of people with metastatic pancreatic cancer and has no side-effects, raising hopes for a new and powerful tool against the most intractable form of the disease. The drug, IMM-101, is considered groundbreaking because pancreatic cancer that has spread to other parts of the body usually kills within a few months. New immunotherapy drug IMM-101 brings fresh hope for the effective treatment of serious cancers. Unlike other immunotherapy treatments, IMM-101 is not thought to have any side-effects,
The patients who were given the new immunotherapy drug actually felt better than those who were on standard chemotherapy, said Angus Dalgleish, professor of oncology at St George’s, University of London, who led the research. Dalgleish is excited by the potential of the immunotherapy drug, although the trial is relatively small, involving 110 people. Only 18% of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer are alive after one year and 4% after five years, so new treatments for the disease are badly needed. | |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #9 Just read what's in the article. A sample of 110 people. without any toxic effects That’s never been seen before Dalgleish is excited by the potential of the immunotherapy drug, although the trial is relatively small, involving 110 people. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2016-09-07 18:46 |
| #8 Oh, there's plenty of money in that. Of course you have to solve several tech problems first - but these are problems we'll have to solve anyway because of the spread of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2016-09-07 17:34 |
| #7 Where's the money in that? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2016-09-07 17:13 |
| #6 All these "miracle drugs" are b*llshit anyway. If they'd brains G*d gave to birds, they'd take dendritic cells from a patient. Grow them in vitro. Prime them with the desired antigen, and inject them back. The methodology was developed decades ago. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2016-09-07 14:22 |
| #5 If it affects the immune system - it will have side effects. As I understand it, it is now thought that the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome that does not have another cause (things like thyroid deficiency, anemia, or a sleep disorder, along with an ever-lengthening list of possibilities to test for before concluding with the CFS diagnosis) is immune system burn-out after an infection. If that is indeed the case, they may cure the cancer, only to leave the patient a chronic semi-invalid awaiting a different medical breakthrough. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2016-09-07 13:57 |
| #4 Derek Lowes' blog article in 2006 about a trial of a drug called TGN1412 to modulate T-cells that luckily did not kill(!) the six test subjects. |
| Posted by: magpie 2016-09-07 13:28 |
| #3 There's no short answer phil_b. But they tried manipulating immune responses with drugs/interleukins before - and it always blows up. Kinda like trying to change a book by substituting a letter "e" for the letter "a" through it. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2016-09-07 04:55 |
| #2 If it affects the immune system - it will have side effects. Why? Cancers exist, because they can fool or bypass the bodies immune system. There are several drugs in development that enhance or potentiate the immune system against cancers and look hugely promising. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2016-09-07 04:30 |
| #1 Unlike other immunotherapy treatments, IMM-101 is not thought to have any side-effects If it affects the immune system - it will have side effects. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2016-09-07 01:43 |