If you didn’t watch the 60
Minutes segment entitled “Killing Cancer” last night, you should. Here’s a
link: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/polio-cancer-treatment-duke-university-60-minutes-scott-pelley/
The episode announces a new
Glioblastoma treatment protocol developed at Duke University: infecting
(injecting?) the tumor with polio.
What? Polio? One of the great diseases of the last century? Are you crazy? Well, as it turns out, a lot of people thought that Dr. Matthias Gromeier, who came up with this idea, was truly crazy.
As I understand it, cancer
is “invisible” to the body’s immune system and, as such, grows exponentially
without the body’s natural defenses. Injecting polio both helps kill the
disease and, at the same time, makes the body’s immune system aware of the
cancer. Once aware, the body’s immune system attacks the cancer and seems to do
more work in killing the tumor than the polio.
Importantly, the large polio
molecules don’t seem to infect the brain (phew!).
This treatment protocol is in an early stage trial in which nobody expects a 100% batting average. But 60 Minutes reports that “So far there have been 22 patients in the polio trial. Eleven died. Most of them had the higher dose. But even so they lived months longer than expected. The other 11 continue to improve. Four are past six months which Duke calls "remission."
This treatment protocol is in an early stage trial in which nobody expects a 100% batting average. But 60 Minutes reports that “So far there have been 22 patients in the polio trial. Eleven died. Most of them had the higher dose. But even so they lived months longer than expected. The other 11 continue to improve. Four are past six months which Duke calls "remission."
The show went on to say that “Dr. Darell Bigner is the head of the study and of Duke's Brain Tumor
Center. He's been fighting brain cancer 50 years and he told us he has never
seen results like those in patients Fritz Andersen and Stephanie Lipscomb. They
lived months longer than expected. The other 11 continue to improve. Four are
past six months which Duke calls ‘remission.’”
I can’t summarize this mesmerizing
60 Minutes segment in this blog. So go to this link and watch it yourself: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/polio-cancer-treatment-duke-university-60-minutes-scott-pelley/
*Pictured above: Dr.
Matthias Gromeier, a molecular biologist who's been laboring over this therapy
for 25 years and Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes
2 comments:
thank you for sharing :)
Tips Health
As far as I am concerned, anything that has the potential to cure cancer is worth trying. Innovation is necessary in doing research.
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