Roche immune therapy cancer drug shows promise in early study
6 replies, posted
[URL]http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/04/09/us-roche-cancer-idUKBRE9380ZT20130409?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FUKHealthNews+%28News+%2F+UK+%2F+Health+News%29[/URL]
[QUOTE](Reuters) - An experimental drug that spurs the immune system to fight cancer appeared to be safe and demonstrated anti-tumor activity against a variety of cancers in a small early stage study, researchers said on Tuesday.
The drug, called MPDL320A, was discovered and is being developed by Roche's Genentech unit. The Phase 1 trial of the drug in 30 patients with advanced cancer was designed as a dose escalation study to test for toxicity at higher doses.
But researchers were also pleased to find early signs of effectiveness of the drug.
"We saw clear evidence of anti-tumor activity in a broad range of diagnoses, including lung cancer, kidney cancer, colon cancer and gastric cancer," said Dr. Michael Gordon, who presented the data on Tuesday at the American
Association for Cancer Research meeting in Washington, D.C.
The drug is an engineered antibody that targets a protein called PD-L1, for programmed death-ligand 1, and enables T cells of the immune system to more effectively attack cancer cells. PD-L1 is found on the surface of many
cancer cells and impairs the immune system's ability to fight the disease.
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And it was never seen again.
Except it was.
By the scientists testing it.
In a lab.
To make sure it doesn't kill humanity/start a zombie apocalypse.
Until one day it made it to the general public.
No conspiracy.
I don't know why people think pharmaceutical companies are covering up the cure for cancer. Sure, you can get a lot of money through long-term therapy, but on the other hand it would be the [B]cure for cancer[/B]. You could sell that for literally any price and it'd be snapped up.
[QUOTE=MrBob1337;40225880]I don't know why people think pharmaceutical companies are covering up the cure for cancer. Sure, you can get a lot of money through long-term therapy, but on the other hand it would be the [B]cure for cancer[/B]. You could sell that for literally any price and it'd be snapped up.[/QUOTE]
that, and if someone is ever found to have covered up a perfect cure for cancer just so they can make money, they'll be branded as worse than Hitler
[QUOTE=MrBob1337;40225880]I don't know why people think pharmaceutical companies are covering up the cure for cancer. Sure, you can get a lot of money through long-term therapy, but on the other hand it would be the [B]cure for cancer[/B]. You could sell that for literally any price and it'd be snapped up.[/QUOTE]
People think that pharmaceutical companies want people to be sick so they have to buy their medicine over a long period of time = $$$
[QUOTE=bull3tmagn3t;40226731]People think that pharmaceutical companies want people to be sick so they have to buy their medicine over a long period of time = $$$[/QUOTE]
Which likely spawns from the observation that doctors are all-too-happy to prescribe a life-long drug regimen in place of a proper fix for many things, and to write out scrips for things that don't even need medical care in the first place.
[QUOTE=TestECull;40228133]Which likely spawns from the observation that doctors are all-too-happy to prescribe a life-long drug regimen in place of a proper fix for many things, and to write out scrips for things that don't even need medical care in the first place.[/QUOTE]
In some cases I think this is true. My doctor seems really keen to just keep giving me painkillers instead of trying to find out WHY my tailbone hurts whenever I do anything. I wonder if this is because it's easier to just prescribe painkillers than it is to mess around having scans and stuff to find the root of the problem.
Then again, I can sort of understand them doing it with pains like that, but you'd have to be one magnificent bastard to withhold the cure for cancer just to keep people on chemotherapy.
[QUOTE=ChaosUnleash;40230397]In some cases I think this is true. My doctor seems really keen to just keep giving me painkillers instead of trying to find out WHY my tailbone hurts whenever I do anything. I wonder if this is because it's easier to just prescribe painkillers than it is to mess around having scans and stuff to find the root of the problem.
Then again, I can sort of understand them doing it with pains like that, but you'd have to be one magnificent bastard to withhold the cure for cancer just to keep people on chemotherapy.[/QUOTE]
As in if you sit on a hard surface? I have a slight protruding coccyx.
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