Johns Hopkins opinion

lisa42

Trovax question
John (or anyone else),

I have a question about the Trovax vaccine... I had heard before that it was only done on patients immediately following colon/rectal surgery. I am thinking that it was only for up to stage III, to hopefully prevent metastatsis & that it wasn't being used on/given to stage IV patients in the trials. Do you know the answer to that?

Lisa

John23

lisa42 said:

Trovax question
John (or anyone else),

I have a question about the Trovax vaccine... I had heard before that it was only done on patients immediately following colon/rectal surgery. I am thinking that it was only for up to stage III, to hopefully prevent metastatsis & that it wasn't being used on/given to stage IV patients in the trials. Do you know the answer to that?

Lisa

Trovax
Lisa -

I would go with what you have now (with Dr. Cantrell), and see
what happens.

That Trovax interested me, since it's more in-line with the
TCM philosophy that the body should heal itself. Trovax
helped the immune system do just that.

I would have to dig back to locate the original documentation,
but I thought they had tested it with late term as well, with
good results.

Unfortunately, the testing isn't being done to the schemes set
during the initial development, and it's not getting rave reviews.

You can take some time and contact Oxford Biomedica directly,
and see if they can offer some advice. I would want to try their
Trovax at their facility, not at anyplace here that's doing "clinical trials",
for the reasons I mentioned in previous posts.

Do research now, and keep to the paths you choose. You can
always turn to a backup.

Don't fear anything, you -will- do well.

califsue

lisa42 said:

heard back from Dr. Ben from John Hopkins
Hi Everyone,

I thought I'd report back to you all who are interested, that I did hear back on my email from Dr. Ben from John Hopkins. He had commented above that he was concerned about me going to see Dr. Cantrell. *BTW, DAN R pm'd me and said he had his appt w/ Dr. Cantrell over the past 2 days & really liked him and has started treatment. I'm hoping Dan will report to us as he gets into the treatment more on his side effects and, of course, on his progress on the treatment.

Anyhow, Ben from Hopkins wrote to me saying he was concerned over the fact that Dr. Cantrell was not trained as an oncologist, but was a facial surgeon. This is true, actually, but I believe he has done lots of research and seemed very, very knowledgeable about cancer and the many types of treatments currently in use. He also was concerned about the amount of money I'd be having to pay. I pointed out that I really don't think it will be that much at all- probably far less than a lot of people are paying for the "standard" treatments ($950 for the initial 2 day appt, $200-300 for follow up appts every 2-3 months, and that the medication is not that expensive and some insurances will pay for it). He pointed out that clinical trials are monitored carefully and that finding a cure for cancer in the future depends upon having carefully monitored clinical trials with the outcomes of patients followed up very carefully (i.e. how many are disease free after a year, what exactly does Cantrell consider as a successful treatment, etc.). I replied that I appreciated his concerns, but that I still am planning on going forward with this. I also pointed out how my oncologist is supportive of me doing this and feels the medications (Lovastatin and interferon) are relatively safe when monitored (which he will be doing for me, as well as Dr. Cantrell will be doing). Clinical trials may be monitored more carefully, but if I'm going to do a clinical trial with unknown agents that I've never used before, the outcome of the clinical trial will be just as unknown as this treatment w/ Cantrell will be. In fact, I feel that since I've heard of and spoken to a patient and Dr. Cantrell about people already treated, that I know more about the outcome of this treatment than I would with joining a clinical trial. I plan on putting 10 weeks into it, then evaluate whether or not it's helping. If, at that point, it does not seem to be helping me, then I'd find a clinical trial to join. But I am doing this first.
I am still appreciate of his concerns, but I was glad to read them and still feel good about proceeding forward with this. That's all-

Here is Ben's response back to me after I replied to his most recent email:

"Hi Lisa,

Thanks for your email. I think you are making an informed choice and that's really all I wanted to make sure of. In this business there are many patients who are taken advantage of and I wanted to be sure that this was not the case with you and it clearly is not. I do wish you all the best and if there is anything I can do for you or your family in the future, please just let me know.

Warmest regards,
Ben"

Have a great weekend everyone-
Lisa

Thanks Lisa
Thank you Lisa for reporting back about Ben's concerns. Please keep us informed about your experience with Dr. Cantrell and his therapy. I may follow in your footsteps if I don't find a clinical trail after I'm done with radiation. My prayers are with you.

Together in hope,
Susan

motormund

lisa42 said:

heard back from Dr. Ben from John Hopkins
Hi Everyone,

I thought I'd report back to you all who are interested, that I did hear back on my email from Dr. Ben from John Hopkins. He had commented above that he was concerned about me going to see Dr. Cantrell. *BTW, DAN R pm'd me and said he had his appt w/ Dr. Cantrell over the past 2 days & really liked him and has started treatment. I'm hoping Dan will report to us as he gets into the treatment more on his side effects and, of course, on his progress on the treatment.

Anyhow, Ben from Hopkins wrote to me saying he was concerned over the fact that Dr. Cantrell was not trained as an oncologist, but was a facial surgeon. This is true, actually, but I believe he has done lots of research and seemed very, very knowledgeable about cancer and the many types of treatments currently in use. He also was concerned about the amount of money I'd be having to pay. I pointed out that I really don't think it will be that much at all- probably far less than a lot of people are paying for the "standard" treatments ($950 for the initial 2 day appt, $200-300 for follow up appts every 2-3 months, and that the medication is not that expensive and some insurances will pay for it). He pointed out that clinical trials are monitored carefully and that finding a cure for cancer in the future depends upon having carefully monitored clinical trials with the outcomes of patients followed up very carefully (i.e. how many are disease free after a year, what exactly does Cantrell consider as a successful treatment, etc.). I replied that I appreciated his concerns, but that I still am planning on going forward with this. I also pointed out how my oncologist is supportive of me doing this and feels the medications (Lovastatin and interferon) are relatively safe when monitored (which he will be doing for me, as well as Dr. Cantrell will be doing). Clinical trials may be monitored more carefully, but if I'm going to do a clinical trial with unknown agents that I've never used before, the outcome of the clinical trial will be just as unknown as this treatment w/ Cantrell will be. In fact, I feel that since I've heard of and spoken to a patient and Dr. Cantrell about people already treated, that I know more about the outcome of this treatment than I would with joining a clinical trial. I plan on putting 10 weeks into it, then evaluate whether or not it's helping. If, at that point, it does not seem to be helping me, then I'd find a clinical trial to join. But I am doing this first.
I am still appreciate of his concerns, but I was glad to read them and still feel good about proceeding forward with this. That's all-

Here is Ben's response back to me after I replied to his most recent email:

"Hi Lisa,

Thanks for your email. I think you are making an informed choice and that's really all I wanted to make sure of. In this business there are many patients who are taken advantage of and I wanted to be sure that this was not the case with you and it clearly is not. I do wish you all the best and if there is anything I can do for you or your family in the future, please just let me know.

Warmest regards,
Ben"

Have a great weekend everyone-
Lisa

Dr. Ben Park
Stumbled across this posting. Wanted to let you know that Dr. Park is my dr and I think he's a brilliant oncologist and a kind person. Nice that he took the time to express concern about your care. Hope you are doing well.

All the best!

thxmiker

Keep up the positive attitude
Keep up the positive attitude and you should do well Sheri!

I went to three Cancer Research hospitals. They all knew whom each other was, and said they would all do the same, just keep doing what your doing. It was peace of mind for sure!

Best Always,
mike

lisa42

thxmiker said:

Keep up the positive attitude
Keep up the positive attitude and you should do well Sheri!

I went to three Cancer Research hospitals. They all knew whom each other was, and said they would all do the same, just keep doing what your doing. It was peace of mind for sure!

Best Always,
mike

Mike/thxmiker
Mike,

Note the date on this post- 2009. Unfortunately, Luv3jay (Sheri) has since passed away. Weird to see my own old post here too- about Dr. Cantrell. Dr. Cantrell's treatment is something I tried, but it did not work for me.
There was another thread on old posts being brought up & about seeing people who have passed away on a post again. I don't know if it was in reference to this particular post or not. Anyhow, everyone, a word of caution... please check dates on posts, especially if you have done a search on a person or subject- old posts can come up. I miss Sheri...

Lisa