"New Perspectives On Cancer and the Immune System":

coloCan
coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
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medicalnewstoday.com/articles/220316.php
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Comments

  • idlehunters
    idlehunters Member Posts: 1,787 Member
    Thanks....
    Interesting article......


    Jennie
  • John23
    John23 Member Posts: 2,122 Member
    Link
    http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/220316.php

    Keep in mind, that the website doesn't provide information
    because they like us, they do it for money. The contributers
    all have an agenda = advertising their product; promoting
    the use of their product.

    "Advertising With MediLexicon International Limited

    We manage campaigns for a range of blue chip clients that vary in
    size from $500 to $500,000. We sell advertising space direct and
    also via media agencies. A popular service we offer to
    advertisers is the ability to geo-target visitors from specific
    countries, or exclude visitors from specified countries. This
    allows advertisers to run very specific campaigns on our sites.

    Each of our web sites offer advertisers different benefits:"


    http://www.medilexicon.org/advertising.php


    Ain't nuttin' free in life!


    Best wishes,

    John
  • Buckwirth
    Buckwirth Member Posts: 1,258 Member
    John23 said:

    Link
    http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/220316.php

    Keep in mind, that the website doesn't provide information
    because they like us, they do it for money. The contributers
    all have an agenda = advertising their product; promoting
    the use of their product.

    "Advertising With MediLexicon International Limited

    We manage campaigns for a range of blue chip clients that vary in
    size from $500 to $500,000. We sell advertising space direct and
    also via media agencies. A popular service we offer to
    advertisers is the ability to geo-target visitors from specific
    countries, or exclude visitors from specified countries. This
    allows advertisers to run very specific campaigns on our sites.

    Each of our web sites offer advertisers different benefits:"


    http://www.medilexicon.org/advertising.php


    Ain't nuttin' free in life!


    Best wishes,

    John

    Feeling a little cynical today John?
    Every news source survives via advertising. The question is if they let the advertisers control content, if so, then there is a clear conflict of interest.

    Nothing I see in what you quoted would lead me to believe that is true. Let me know if you don't understand geo-targeting, but I assure you it is nothing insidious.

    Sometimes people start these kinds of businesses because they really want to help people, or they enjoy the subject. Making money at can be kind of a side benefit.
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    John23 said:

    Link
    http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/220316.php

    Keep in mind, that the website doesn't provide information
    because they like us, they do it for money. The contributers
    all have an agenda = advertising their product; promoting
    the use of their product.

    "Advertising With MediLexicon International Limited

    We manage campaigns for a range of blue chip clients that vary in
    size from $500 to $500,000. We sell advertising space direct and
    also via media agencies. A popular service we offer to
    advertisers is the ability to geo-target visitors from specific
    countries, or exclude visitors from specified countries. This
    allows advertisers to run very specific campaigns on our sites.

    Each of our web sites offer advertisers different benefits:"


    http://www.medilexicon.org/advertising.php


    Ain't nuttin' free in life!


    Best wishes,

    John

    Thanks John,I don't know how to do that......Hope you're
    feeling better....steve

    (will read your other attachment as soon as I click this response)



    OK, i read it.....Still, I do not think the fact that Medicalnews.com accepts ads paid by the above-cited entity detracts from the validity of the research being published therein...That firm does not do the research being cited.....
  • Buckwirth
    Buckwirth Member Posts: 1,258 Member
    coloCan said:

    Thanks John,I don't know how to do that......Hope you're
    feeling better....steve

    (will read your other attachment as soon as I click this response)



    OK, i read it.....Still, I do not think the fact that Medicalnews.com accepts ads paid by the above-cited entity detracts from the validity of the research being published therein...That firm does not do the research being cited.....

    a tutorial
    on adding hyperlinks to this site would be very useful.
  • coloCan said:

    Thanks John,I don't know how to do that......Hope you're
    feeling better....steve

    (will read your other attachment as soon as I click this response)



    OK, i read it.....Still, I do not think the fact that Medicalnews.com accepts ads paid by the above-cited entity detracts from the validity of the research being published therein...That firm does not do the research being cited.....

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • John23
    John23 Member Posts: 2,122 Member
    coloCan said:

    Thanks John,I don't know how to do that......Hope you're
    feeling better....steve

    (will read your other attachment as soon as I click this response)



    OK, i read it.....Still, I do not think the fact that Medicalnews.com accepts ads paid by the above-cited entity detracts from the validity of the research being published therein...That firm does not do the research being cited.....

    Steve -

    That specific article dealing with Immunotherapy is "on target"!

    My comment was intended to make people aware that not
    everything at that site may be as honorable, since the contributors
    can be advertisers.

    Immunotherapy, or the use of our own immune system to fight
    cancer, is a concept that has been denounced for years by the
    cancer industry. The product "Trovax" was an Immunotherapy
    concept, sensitizing the immune system to the chemicals a cancer
    cell emits. The immune system would then know what to look for,
    and begin to remove cancer cells that it previously overlooked.
    More about Trovax

    Our immune system is very important, and keeping it healthy
    should be our main concern.

    Best of health,


    John
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    John23 said:

    Steve -

    That specific article dealing with Immunotherapy is "on target"!

    My comment was intended to make people aware that not
    everything at that site may be as honorable, since the contributors
    can be advertisers.

    Immunotherapy, or the use of our own immune system to fight
    cancer, is a concept that has been denounced for years by the
    cancer industry. The product "Trovax" was an Immunotherapy
    concept, sensitizing the immune system to the chemicals a cancer
    cell emits. The immune system would then know what to look for,
    and begin to remove cancer cells that it previously overlooked.
    More about Trovax

    Our immune system is very important, and keeping it healthy
    should be our main concern.

    Best of health,


    John

    John, while you were typing this,I was more slowly typing the
    comment above yours......Hopefully everyone can differentiate research from propaganda
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    What I do not understand is, prior to doing chemo we get our
    blood tested and certain numbers are looked at and if too high or low there is a problem; red cells, white cells, platelets,etc.....I've always felt that my immune system was "normal" while my tumor began and grew before I knew cancer had me. If my immune system was not compromised prior to any chemo, how can my cancer be the result of a defective immune system? One attribute of cancer is, in my unscientifically-trained mind,its abilty to steath past our defense system,maybe because it came from within ourselves so our immune system does not recognize the cancer for the destructive parasite that it is, because in essence its not a foerign body.....With a number of professional athletes becoming afflicted while still at their game, how can they have been so successful at their sport and have a compromised immune system? does anyone understand what I'm trying to say? (not that it means anything to a tree)
  • Buckwirth
    Buckwirth Member Posts: 1,258 Member
    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    Graci
    Interesting comment on the immune system and colds.

    Did you know that all of the symptoms of a cold are the result of our immune system responding to virus, and the stronger our immune system the worse the symptoms.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/opinion/05ackerman.html

    If someone would tell me how, I would add hyperlinks.

    As to the immune system and cancer, it does not matter how strong your immune response is.

    To the immune system there is self and not self. When it finds not self it creates a response and, hopefully, kills it. Fever is one of those responses, and in a desperate battle against the invader the immune system will kill the host (you) with fever. Kind of a kamikaze action.

    Cancer cells figure out how to fool the immune system to believe they are self (actually they are self, just a mutated self). The trick in an immune response therapy is to get your immune system to recognize the cancer cell as not self.

    Sounds simple, but if you figure out how to do it you will be a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

    Even if you figure it out for one type of cancer, you will probably have to replicate it 199 more times. Each probably has its own special brand of disguise.

    Come to think of it, it has been done once. The vaccine for the HPV virus! That vaccine triggers an immune response to the virus, so you will never get it. As a result, you won't get ovarian cancer, a mutation of HPV much the way that Shingles is a mutation of Chicken Pox.
  • Buckwirth
    Buckwirth Member Posts: 1,258 Member
    coloCan said:

    John, while you were typing this,I was more slowly typing the
    comment above yours......Hopefully everyone can differentiate research from propaganda

    Steve
    If only that were true.

    Personally, I see nothing to indicate that your link is anything other than an honest organisation publishing news in medicine. And there was nothing in John's link to show that to be any different.

    So, I have no idea what he is talking about.
  • John23
    John23 Member Posts: 2,122 Member
    coloCan said:

    What I do not understand is, prior to doing chemo we get our
    blood tested and certain numbers are looked at and if too high or low there is a problem; red cells, white cells, platelets,etc.....I've always felt that my immune system was "normal" while my tumor began and grew before I knew cancer had me. If my immune system was not compromised prior to any chemo, how can my cancer be the result of a defective immune system? One attribute of cancer is, in my unscientifically-trained mind,its abilty to steath past our defense system,maybe because it came from within ourselves so our immune system does not recognize the cancer for the destructive parasite that it is, because in essence its not a foerign body.....With a number of professional athletes becoming afflicted while still at their game, how can they have been so successful at their sport and have a compromised immune system? does anyone understand what I'm trying to say? (not that it means anything to a tree)

    Steve -
    Re:
    "One attribute of cancer is, in my unscientifically-trained
    mind,its abilty to steath past our defense system, maybe because
    it came from within ourselves so our immune system does not
    recognize the cancer for the destructive parasite that it is,
    because in essence its not a foerign body
    ....."


    That is exactly what the newest research seems to be indicating.

    Regardless if the immune system is healthy or not, if it doesn't
    recognize the damaged cell, it won't attempt to remove that
    damaged cell. That cell can then begin to use the fermentation
    process to continue it's life; it is then called a cancer cell.

    I had a link, but can't locate it now (phooie), but it told of
    research in Norway (if I remember right), that found that
    when a cancer cell dies, it releases most all of it's chemicals.

    That's much like any other living thing. Humans release bowel
    and urinary tract contents when death occurs, along with other
    secretions.

    They found that -if- the immune system is healthy enough, it
    can sense the abnormal amount of "odd" chemicals, remove
    what is producing them, and continue to seek out traces of that
    same chemical. In other words, the immune system begins to
    attack cancer cells after being sensitized to the chemical
    properties the cells carries.

    It's not far-fetched, since oncologists are seeing this phenomenon
    after chemotherapy kills a large tumor, and the chemo is stopped;
    subsequent scans indicate cancer cell disappearence in other areas
    of the body. It's as if the immune system suddenly understands
    that the cancer cells don't belong. Using less amounts of chemotherapy
    now appears to be the choice of many oncologists.

    Immunotherapy concept is to "teach" the immune system what
    a cancer cell is; imagine a Vaccine for cancer?

    But the immune system has got to be in good shape, otherwise
    it won't be able to do the job, if/when it learns to do the job.

    All those that are using juicing, etc., are helping thier immune
    system, and that can very well be all that's needed to win the
    battle against cancer.

    Too much chemo damages the immune system, and radiation
    damages the immune system. That is the sole reason I decided to
    avoid those methods. But..... if I had a tumor about to invade a
    critical organ and cause death, I would use whatever it takes to
    stop the invasive cancer. Using chemo for "mop up" however,
    is not on my play field at all. Why damage my immune system
    when it's my only hope for life?
    (That's my opinion tossed in there, Steve..... fwiw.)

    Immunotherapy may be the answer to all our prayers, but
    unfortunately, it would put an end to a multi-trillion dollar industry....

    My hopes aren't too high.


    Good health to you!

    John
  • pete43lost_at_sea
    pete43lost_at_sea Member Posts: 3,900 Member
    good read
    steve,
    you always come up with interesting news.
    thanks,
    pete
  • TroVax106
    TroVax106 Member Posts: 4
    John23 said:

    Steve -

    That specific article dealing with Immunotherapy is "on target"!

    My comment was intended to make people aware that not
    everything at that site may be as honorable, since the contributors
    can be advertisers.

    Immunotherapy, or the use of our own immune system to fight
    cancer, is a concept that has been denounced for years by the
    cancer industry. The product "Trovax" was an Immunotherapy
    concept, sensitizing the immune system to the chemicals a cancer
    cell emits. The immune system would then know what to look for,
    and begin to remove cancer cells that it previously overlooked.
    More about Trovax

    Our immune system is very important, and keeping it healthy
    should be our main concern.

    Best of health,


    John

    Trovax
    I did trovax and the doc told me it trains the T and NK (white) cells to recognize and attack the 5T4 antigen on the cancer cell. Worked pretty good.
  • John23
    John23 Member Posts: 2,122 Member
    TroVax106 said:

    Trovax
    I did trovax and the doc told me it trains the T and NK (white) cells to recognize and attack the 5T4 antigen on the cancer cell. Worked pretty good.

    Trovax -
    Thanks for your comments regarding your personal experience
    with Trovax.

    I had been following the product (Trovax) since it's initial discovery
    was broadcast, and felt dismayed (at the least) when they were
    being sidelined.

    They were looking for an investor to support testing in this country,
    to be able to garner an FDA approval. The only investor with
    enough backing to support the intensive testing fully, was the
    largest manufacturer and supplier of chemotherapy drugs.

    That company insisted on testing Trovax as an adjunct to their
    chemo drugs (all that weaken the immune system), and against
    cancers Trovax had never before been tested with.

    After company poured millions into testing it "their way", Trovax
    failed to show any significant ability to thwart cancer's progress.

    The company called it a failure, and returned licensing back to
    Oxford Med. Now, Oxford, cannot convince any other investors
    to back them..... Their product "Trovax" is sitting back on the
    shelf, without FDA approval, and without the ability to be sold.

    I'm thrilled to read that you've been able to become healthier
    thanks to it, in spite of the industry's machinery to stop it in
    it's tracks.

    Thanks again for your post!

    Stay well,

    John
  • Buckwirth
    Buckwirth Member Posts: 1,258 Member
    TroVax106 said:

    Trovax
    I did trovax and the doc told me it trains the T and NK (white) cells to recognize and attack the 5T4 antigen on the cancer cell. Worked pretty good.

    TroVacs106
    Could you supply more detail?

    When you say Doc, do you mean oncologist? Where did you get it? How was it administered? What is pretty good?
  • Buckwirth
    Buckwirth Member Posts: 1,258 Member
    John23 said:

    Trovax -
    Thanks for your comments regarding your personal experience
    with Trovax.

    I had been following the product (Trovax) since it's initial discovery
    was broadcast, and felt dismayed (at the least) when they were
    being sidelined.

    They were looking for an investor to support testing in this country,
    to be able to garner an FDA approval. The only investor with
    enough backing to support the intensive testing fully, was the
    largest manufacturer and supplier of chemotherapy drugs.

    That company insisted on testing Trovax as an adjunct to their
    chemo drugs (all that weaken the immune system), and against
    cancers Trovax had never before been tested with.

    After company poured millions into testing it "their way", Trovax
    failed to show any significant ability to thwart cancer's progress.

    The company called it a failure, and returned licensing back to
    Oxford Med. Now, Oxford, cannot convince any other investors
    to back them..... Their product "Trovax" is sitting back on the
    shelf, without FDA approval, and without the ability to be sold.

    I'm thrilled to read that you've been able to become healthier
    thanks to it, in spite of the industry's machinery to stop it in
    it's tracks.

    Thanks again for your post!

    Stay well,

    John

    Trovax Trials Alive & Well
    http://www.mendeley.com/research/vaccination-colorectal-cancer-patients-trovax-given-alongside-chemotherapy-5fluorouracil-leukovorin-irinotecan-safe-induces-potent-immune-responses/

    And, Oxford Biomedica is starting new Phase III trials in this year.

    Mind that this is not touted as a cure.
  • John23
    John23 Member Posts: 2,122 Member
    Buckwirth said:

    Trovax Trials Alive & Well
    http://www.mendeley.com/research/vaccination-colorectal-cancer-patients-trovax-given-alongside-chemotherapy-5fluorouracil-leukovorin-irinotecan-safe-induces-potent-immune-responses/

    And, Oxford Biomedica is starting new Phase III trials in this year.

    Mind that this is not touted as a cure.

    Buckwirth -

    The article you're referring to is from 2008.

    A more comprehensive desription and report is
    here: Oxford Biomedica

    Let's see how far along they can get this time....

    Best wishes,

    John
  • John23
    John23 Member Posts: 2,122 Member

    good read
    steve,
    you always come up with interesting news.
    thanks,
    pete

    News from 2010

    Clinical Trial Looks to Harness Body’s Own Immune System to Tackle Pancreatic Cancer

    One of these days.......
    (you just wait)

    Best of health,

    John
  • Buckwirth
    Buckwirth Member Posts: 1,258 Member
    John23 said:

    Buckwirth -

    The article you're referring to is from 2008.

    A more comprehensive desription and report is
    here: Oxford Biomedica

    Let's see how far along they can get this time....

    Best wishes,

    John

    Yes, it was 2008
    Thanks for noticing.

    Here is a full list of the current 2011 drug trials that I mentioned, from the Oxford Biomedica website:

    **************************************************************

    TroVax®

    TroVax® is a therapeutic vaccine that stimulates the immune system to destroy cancerous cells expressing the 5T4 tumour antigen which is present on most solid tumours. The product is based on an attenuated modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA), engineered to deliver the 5T4 antigen. Vaccinia viruses are commonly used as delivery systems for the development of antigen-specific vaccines. MVA is the vaccinia strain of choice because of its excellent safety profile and its effectiveness in stimulating an immune response against 'self' antigens, such as 5T4.

    Phase II study in prostate cancer
    TroVax® is currently in Phase II development for hormone refractory prostate cancer (HRPC. The randomised, open-label Phase II study will enrol 80 patients with metastatic HRPC in five centres across the US and will assess the activity of TroVax® plus chemotherapy drug docetaxel (Taxotere®), versus docetaxel alone. The ongoing study is led by Dr Anna Ferrari, NYU Clinical Cancer Center, and first results are expected in H2 2012.

    Phase I/II study in mesothelioma
    Oxford BioMedica is collaborating with a team of cancer immunologists led by Dr Zsuzsanna Tabi at Cardiff University and Dr Jason Lester, an oncologist at Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff, to evaluate TroVax® in a Phase I/II study in mesothelioma (asbestos cancer). The study will be funded by the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund and Oxford BioMedica will provide TroVax®. The study aims to examine the effect of TroVax® in combination with first-line chemotherapy agents as a treatment against mesothelioma. This study is anticipated to begin in 2011 and follows a feasibility project undertaken by Dr. Tabi and her team which was also funded by the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund.

    Other studies
    The Company also anticipates a sponsored study in ovarian cancer to start in 2011.

    An earlier Phase III trial in advanced and metastatic renal cell carcinoma, known as TRIST (TroVax® Renal Immunotherapy Survival Trial) was amended in July 2008, following the recommendation of the Data Safety Monitoring Board that TRIST would not meet the pre-defined primary efficacy endpoint of survival improvement. The TRIST results demonstrated that TroVax® was well tolerated but did not result in enhanced survival relative to placebo controls. However, exploratory analyses (now published in Clinical Cancer Research in November 2010) have identified sub-groups of patients where TroVax® may be of significant benefit. This trial has provided a valuable investment in the future clinical development of TroVax®.

    Amongst other key factors for consideration, the TRIST results show that survival was prolonged in patients who had normal haematology prior to receiving TroVax® i.e. normal levels of platelets, monocytes and haemoglobin in their blood profile. The fact that patients who are likely to respond well to TroVax® can be identified by a simple blood test is pivotal for the planning of all future studies.


    Market opportunity
    At $47.7 billion, cancer is one of the largest, fastest growing markets in the pharmaceutical industry, according to MarketResearch.com. There are substantial efforts being made within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry to develop effective cancer vaccines. If TroVax® is shown to be efficacious in a pivotal registration trial for even just one of the major cancers, its market potential would be considerable. For example, in prostate cancer, the global vaccine market is expected to reach US$2.3billion in 2017 growing at a compound annual rate of 66% (source: GlobalData).

    TroVax® is not prostate cancer specific, nor patient specific, and is administered in the same way as most infectious disease vaccines are given; a simple injection in the arm. If TroVax® is efficacious in several of the many cancers where it is known that 5T4 is present on the tumours, it has blockbuster potential.

    Clinical proof of concept
    Results from nine completed Phase I/II and II trials in colorectal, renal and prostate cancer in approximately 190 patients have shown that TroVax® is safe, well tolerated and can be administered in combination with various other treatments. Approximately 90% of patients treated with TroVax® mounted an anti-cancer immune response to the 5T4 antigen.

    A cross-trial analysis of all evaluable patients showed a statistically significant association between immune responses to 5T4 and overall survival. There were no correlations between the immune response to MVA and patient survival, suggesting that the benefit associated with the 5T4 response is not related to patients’ general health status. Across all nine trials, a doubling in the 5T4-specific antibody response between the first and third vaccinations was associated with a reduction in the relative risk of death of 16% (p < 0.002).

    ***************************************************

    This was interesting, and I take it to mean they hope for Trovax to be through trials and have approval in 2017:

    "Market opportunity
    At $47.7 billion, cancer is one of the largest, fastest growing markets in the pharmaceutical industry, according to MarketResearch.com. There are substantial efforts being made within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry to develop effective cancer vaccines. If TroVax® is shown to be efficacious in a pivotal registration trial for even just one of the major cancers, its market potential would be considerable. For example, in prostate cancer, the global vaccine market is expected to reach US$2.3billion in 2017 growing at a compound annual rate of 66% (source: GlobalData)."

    Be well,

    Blake