Vaccine May Stop Lung Cancer

[ayoub_ibrahim]

An experimental vaccine wiped out lung cancer in some patients and slowed its spread in others in a small but promising study, researchers say.

Three patients injected with the vaccine, GVAX, had no recurrence of lung cancer for more than three years afterward, according to the study of 43 people with the most common form of the disease, non-small cell lung cancer.

The vaccine, developed by researchers at Baylor University Medical Center, is years away from reaching the market, if ever. The researchers hope to apply for Food and Drug Administration approval in three years.

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,62348,00.html?tw=wn_techhead_3

[Brian Ellis]

3/43 ain't good.

[Gurm]

Yeah but if it didn't make the others any WORSE, that's more promising than, say, sugar pills.

- Gurm

[Brian Ellis]

If you said they were a vaccine, you would probably get the same results - or better - with sugar pills.

[Gurm]

Well ok there is that...

- Gurm

[Umfriend]

3/43? What's that?

[az]

Three people of fourty-three were healed.

AZ

[Umfriend]

Man, sometimes I can be so darn daft..... I only read three years..... Read it a couple of times and still.....

Having said that, it says it also slowed spread with an unspecified number of others, which seems good to me to.

Finally, I am not aware of any positive results by placebo's on lung cancer......

[TransformX]

Originally posted by Umfriend
Finally, I am not aware of any positive results by placebo's on lung cancer......

You'd be amazed by the effect on many diseases.
There are quite a few drug tests in which placebo had a better positive effect than the tested drug.

[Umfriend]

You'd be amazed by the effect on many diseases.
There are quite a few drug tests in which placebo had a better positive effect than the tested drug.

Indeed I have been, just not on lung cancer...

[az]

Cancer in general is one of the diseases where psychosomatics (and thus also placebos) plays a GREAT role. My mother had liver cancer (the doctors gave her three months AT BEST), as big as an orange, with lots of metastases. Some of the best surgeons couldn't cut it out. So she tried some alternative medicine (mistletoe extract, macrobiotics...). I don't believe that really was what healed her, I think maybe it contributed a little, but the most important part was IMO that she BELIEVED it would help her, and that she didn't want to die and leave her little children behind. I believe she healed herself.

She has been cancer-free for over 15 years now, no metastases, nothing (only her liver is damaged).

AZ

[Ozbreeze]

it's great for the ones that it did help. and maybe this will lay groundwork for better advancements yet to come. I agree, however, that attitude plays alot in patient recovery too though. If you fight the illness, you try to live longer. If you just give up, it takes you faster.

just my 2 cents..

[Chrono_Wanderer]

agree with Ozbreeze.

imagine those 3 people got rid of lung cancer....

imo its a big step in the right direction

[The Rock]

Ya know what I love about this forum? That you guys are so smart that I might actually get a semi-factual answer to the following question:

So these guys want to apply for FDA approval in 3 years. The question is: exactly why does it take 3 years?

I have a habit of over-analyzing processes/procedures at work, constantly analyzing in my head how we do things, and could be do them better. So I see this 3 year wait and I'm thinking "is something constantly being done over those 3 years to get that drug to the people who need it?". I wonder how much "idle time" is wasted in those 3 years because of red tape and drug industry processes. Maybe it's as efficient as it can get, I dunno. I'd like to hope so. Very curious about this whole thing. Great news for cancer treatment advancement though.

[The Rock]

Originally posted by TransformX
You'd be amazed by the effect on many diseases.
There are quite a few drug tests in which placebo had a better positive effect than the tested drug.

Just goes to show you that the human body probably has tremendous self-healing capability that we don't even realize. That mysterious brain of ours that controls the show does some neat things.