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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Prostate Cancer / September 2004Getting Closer To A Cure For PCa
Most researchers and physicans agree that it will be 5-10 years before a cure or drug to hold back PCa arrives. It looks like it is going to become reality sooner than later. The Biotech companies are getting closer to stopping PCa in its track with numerous different types of therapies. The one below is a recent example. There are other vaccines and therapies that are making great progress. Hoping we all make it to the day when the cure arrives. Dave P. Getting Closere to cure for prostate cancer Beezy Marsh 02sep04 THOUSANDS of men suffering from prostate cancer could be saved by gene therapy. In a major breakthrough, scientists have found a way of "switching off" the spread of advanced prostate cancer and shrinking tumours. Experts have used gene therapy to stop the cancer cells responding to male hormones - called androgens - which fuel the spread of the disease. In more than half the 27,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer every year, doctors try to bring the disease under control by stopping production of androgens, including testosterone. Hormone therapy is used to suppress testosterone, which feeds the cancerous growth. In most cases, however, this treatment only works for a limited time as the cancer is no longer sensitive to hormone control and finds other ways of proliferating. More than 10,000 men die in Britain a year of prostate cancer. The new gene therapy works by effectively "blocking" male hormones from feeding the cancer. Although it is not a total cure, it could slow the progression of the disease to the extent that sufferers will be able to lead normal lives. The genes are delivered into the cancer via a virus that is harmless to the body, which is given in an injection. Researchers say tests have shown the treatment works on cancer cells in the laboratory and in tests on animals. Trials in humans are expected within three to five years. It is hoped the treatment will become widely available early in the next decade. Findings of the laboratory experiment, which is the work of a team from Imperial College London based at the Hammersmith Hospital, are published in the medical journal Oncogene. Researcher Professor Jonathan Waxman said: "The tumours simply shrink and die away after they are inoculated with the gene therapy. "We think this new therapy could prove must more effective than current treatments in stopping the development of cancer and limiting its spread. "Although this could be very good news for prostate cancer patients, we do need to be careful in interpreting the results. As yet we have not carried out the tests in patients." > Most researchers and physicans agree that it will be 5-10 years before a > cure or drug to hold back PCa arrives. It looks like it is going to become [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > THOUSANDS of men suffering from prostate cancer could be saved by gene > therapy. Five years ago I attended a major national conference on prostate cancer therapy at which I was told that gene therapy was just around the corner - as I have been told every few months since. I do not suggest that this might be the wrong direction in which to search, but may I remind people that there has never yet been a single instance of any person being cured of any disease by any variant of gene therapy. Enthusiasm in press releases is directly related to the constant search for research grant money. Larry WRONG Dendreon reported that it has put the PCa in remmission of a man that had a PSA over 150 with its vaccine. So the people who told you gene therapy was right around the corner were on target. I had called the U of Rochester to verify this - since they were conducting a Dendreon clinical trial. U of R medical staff reported that the info was correct. It has been 3 years now that the man has been <0.1 and counting. His psa went from 150 to <0.1 within months. There was also a report out of Europe last month that reported a mans PSA dropping from a high number to <0.1 from a vaccine. We are much closer to knocking PCa out than most people in society believe especially with the radioactive isotope delivery system being developed by Dave P. >> Most researchers and physicans agree that it will be 5-10 years before a >> cure or drug to hold back PCa arrives. It looks like it is going to [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > money. > Larry > WRONG > > Dendreon reported that it has put the PCa in remmission of a man that had a > PSA over 150 with its vaccine. So the people who told you gene therapy was > right around the corner were on target. Damn, I hate to be called just plain wrong. Of course this is not gene therapy, is it? and it is not a cure, but a remission, isn't it? I will be glad to read the first report of cure by gene therapy of anything in a peer-reviewed journal, but none has appeared yet, has it? As far as true gene therapy there has been one multiple-system failure and death after an attempt at treatment of SCID, and one death due to the development of leukemia. I am not averse to the idea of gene therapy; I wish it were available to me; my comment was not "WRONG." Larry Larry, Dendreon describes themselves as cell and gene therapy. They have called it complete remission. There have been other documented cases that have been reported in Europe. The problem is it only worked for one or two people. The problem they are having is making it work for everyone. Wishing you the best. Dave P. >> WRONG >> [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > wish it were available to me; my comment was not "WRONG." > Larry > Larry, > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Dave P. What you have described from Dendreon is immunologically-mediated drug delivery. The molecular and functional difference between this and gene modification of cellular process is lollypops and horseshoes. Certainly it is cell therapy and would fall under an umbrella label of "cell and gene therapy," but it is not the gene part. This might seem to be a needless insistence on precise definition, but without precise definition there can be no science. "Vaccine" attempts have been frequent, and to an immunologist are extremely attractive but, I repeat, I am still waiting for a journal report of successful alteration of diseased genes leading to a cure. I should not have made a distinction between cure and remission, as such is not possible on an immediate basis, but when a gene "cure" has been effected it will be necessary to show by biopsy that the nature of the tissue has changed and that there is no evidence of cells the structure and function of which are abnormal. Larry > > Larry, > > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > > > Dave P. Dave, I hope you don't get the impression I am irritated with you, because of course I am not. You are bringing us information of value, and releases of this sort are so terribly difficult to read and evaluate. I realize that my interpretation may be off-base, as I don't have the opportunity to read every word of the reports you mention. I would probably not have continued in this thread had not that one word, isolated, upper-case, afflicted me with a lexicographer's that I had to itch. Best wishes, Larry No Problem Larry, Every post brings info to the group and we learn new things daily or we help each other. Your knowledge of gene therapy goes beyond mine and I understand where your coming from. Hopefully in the near future there will be new effective therapies for advanced and localized PCa. In the meantime, stay as healthy as possible and enjoy life to the fullest. Wishing you the best. Dave P. >> > Larry, >> > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > Best wishes, > Larry |
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