LBN: but off topic for LBN forum? Drug Stops Cancer in its tracks

[Speck Tater]

MONDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental drug that stops cancer cell division and triggers tumor death has been developed by researchers at Temple University.

The drug, called ON01910, interferes with the activity of a gene called Plk1, which plays an important role in cancer spread. Previous research found that Plk1 is present at higher levels in tumors and in cancer patients with poor survival rates. That work also discovered that when Plk1 is blocked cancer cells can't divide and tumors die.

The Temple team tested ON01910 on 94 different human cancers.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=97&ncid=751&e=11&u=/hsn/20050315/hl_hsn/drugstopscancerinitstracks

[Zuni]

1. That is the best news I have heard in a long time

[Wonk]

2. DU has more forums than just LBN, GD, and the Lounge, btw.

You might want to use the health forum for threads like this, for example. Threads last much longer in the subforums than they will in the busy lounge.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=222

[Skip Intro]

3. Seems like LBN material to me

and GD material and Lounge material and Science material

[Speck Tater]

4. well...

LBN rules say "no off topic..." which I interpret to mean "non-political". I don't want the DU police to come and arrest me! ;-)

[tuvor]

5. Well, maybe we can get someone else to nominate this for the greatest page

Great stuff! (Hopefully)

[Skip Intro]

8. lol.

If you don't want to post it there, but want it posted there, I'll post it for you.

Or, post it there yourself - the DU police are quite friendly, and fair. That's been my experience.


Anyway, I did vote it for greatest page.

Its definitely the best news of the day.

[Swede]

6. Thanks for posting this.

My sister-in-law is battling breast cancer.

[Sydnie]

7. That's great!

Now that is a drug that could help so many, many people. That's great news. Thanks for posting this.

[CubsFan1982]

9. Wonderful news!

I only wish this news could've come a year sooner -- my uncle passed away from bone cancer last July. He'd have been thrilled to hear this news!

[tuvor]

10. My dad, non-hodgkins lymphoma in 1998.

Yeah, it's a pisser all right.

[Elidor]

11. Wow. I never thought I'd see such a development in my lifetime.

This is just amazing.

[kanrok]

12. Damned great news

Go Temple.

[Kurovski]

13. Good news for everyone.

Agreement, at long last!

[sellitman]

14. Maybe the bushies will be against tumor killing?

They have been against anything else that made sense?

[Andy_Stephenson]

15. I wonder if I could

get this drug? I wonder if it would help?

Damn...thanks for a bit of hope.

[Us vs Them]

16. I'm not going to get too excited here, but...

Did they just fucking cure cancer?

[Inte11ectual]

17. after reading the poorly written article i was wondering...

that myself. It seems very abrupt and to the point for something that could be so important

[lonestarnot]

18. WOW this is some find! Bet these T.U. dudes are gett'n the good feeling!

[samplegirl]

19. Not to worry

the Govt. will nix it.

[Nothing Without Hope]

20. Don't get too excited YET. And before you tell someone with a

loved one dying of cancer about this, you need to find out much more. And even then, this drug is not going to be available for humans for some time, if it ever is. Phase I clinical trials are already underway, and the ones for efficacy won't be started until these results are in.

I have not gotten the actual journal article to see exactly what the researchers did, but since they are only now in a Phase I clinical trial in humans, it looks like it's only been tried in animal models, most likely immune-deficient mice. (That's standard - normal mice will reject human cells.) Phase I clinical trials are set up not for assessing efficacy but for testing safety for use in humans. The rather poorly written (since so little information is given) news article says that 56 patients with advanced and metastatic cancers -- people who basically have nothing to lose -- are being treated wth the drug in this Phase I trial. The researchers will be looking for signs of toxicity. If they are tolerable, then a Phase II or a combined Phase II/III trial will be started. THOSE would be for testing efficacy in human cancer patients. While it is possible that there may be some effect observed in the Phase I trial, that's not the goal and the patients are in a very advanced stage of the disease before treatment.

It may well be that only early-stage tumors or tumors of a certain type might respond, or perhaps there might need to be treatment with multiple drugs at once. It's just much to early to know what will happen and also much too early to plan on getting into a clinical trial quickly. The drug sounds promising, but no one knows what it will do in humans. Other drugs have been very promising in animal models as well. The animal model results sometimes don't transfer to humans, and apparently right now that's all there is. They are near the beginning of a long road, though the prospects look promising. It will be highly interesting to monitor how the trials go, but it's far too early to try to get the drug for someone you love.

So be careful about calling someone with a sick loved one with what sounds at first to be life-saving news.

[Tace]

21. A Cure For Cancer Would Be The Most Important Story Since...

the atom bomb.

[gulfcoastliberal]

22. Angiostatin also cured cancer in test tubes...

But in humans the drugs have been less than spectacular. Believe me, I want this to work in people. My dad has a pulmonary nodule in his lung and I am very worried.

[Sufi Marmot]

23. Polo-like kinase!

Here's the abstract if anyone's interested.

-SM, who is not unfamiliar with Plk1

[Catherine Vincent]

24. Good news!

That's always good to hear.