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A rare piece of good news as regards asbestos
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peter gotch  
#1 Posted : 01 August 2016 11:52:34(UTC)
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peter gotch
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David Bannister  
#2 Posted : 01 August 2016 12:09:56(UTC)
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David Bannister
That has to be "Carlsberg" news.

I so hope that this drug is as effective for all as it appears to have been on the trial.
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Graham Bullough  
#3 Posted : 01 August 2016 12:51:52(UTC)
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Graham Bullough
peter

Many thanks for sharing the unexpected news. If, as David B and no doubt many of us will hope, the drug proves to be successful for others with mesothelioma, the news is certainly good. Even so, it should not be misinterpreted by anyone as a basis for letting up about effective arrangements for managing asbestos!

Graham B
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Xavier123  
#4 Posted : 01 August 2016 13:22:41(UTC)
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Xavier123
It is interesting news. But I'd love to see the published paper. One result does not science make. But every little helps!

Also this from the article -
'Be wary of participating in a placebo trial where you may have no hopes of benefitting from the drug'


Sigh. There has to be a control group. That might suck for an individual looking for hope but ethics dictates that if there was a reasonable chance of it working, they wouldn't be able to compare against placebo alone. The bonus is that a well designed trial will account for patient hopes and blind both them and the clinician to the treatment.
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Xavier123  
#5 Posted : 01 August 2016 13:43:13(UTC)
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Xavier123
Just a quick update as I was on lunch and so went a'huntin'.

It appears the major trial in the US was of 25 patients. 28% had some partial shrinkage of the tumour and another 48% effectively stopped growing. That's quite a small trial.
It's also estimated that it may only be useful in around 20-40% of meso patients dependent upon the cancer cell type (regarding cell surface proteins).
I can't seem to find any formal reporting of findings other than press releases and a conference paper - doesn't mean they're not around but press releases do not equal peer review.

Still, there are now trials in the UK and Australia and positive news stories coming out of both. I wasn't aware of many cases of remission via standard therapy for meso so even my hard held skepticism is put to the test here. ;)
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Rees21880  
#6 Posted : 01 August 2016 15:21:34(UTC)
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Rees21880
Only four weeks ago we attended my 13 year nephew's funeral as he finally succumbed to five year battle to both lung and liver cancer. He went through all sorts of chemo- and other treatment, including R&D treatment, so to have ANY form of hope is wonderful. It didn't matter how small or trivial either.

I also agree that preventing the problem in the first place is as important too.

If anyone would like to donate to a specific cancer charity, I can wholeheartedly recommend Clic Sargent as they provided amazing and much-needed support to his parents.

Pete
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johnmurray  
#7 Posted : 01 August 2016 23:02:22(UTC)
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johnmurray
At nearly £1500 per 50mg, and with use dependent upon the NHS getting a discount, I don't think you can count on a full-scale rollout just yet.
It's had an up-to 60% remission rate on some types of skin cancer.
But I would point-out that even much cheaper meds are now the subject of cost savings....and with many, if not all, hospitals running well over-budget, it's use may well be restricted to teaching facilities where the patients are Guinea-pigs...
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biker1  
#8 Posted : 02 August 2016 13:50:13(UTC)
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biker1
Really good news, and I hope it turns out to be the breakthrough hoped for.

It will however, have to get the approval of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, who will decide on whether it is 'cost-effective', and unfortunately they don't have a good record on that sort of thing.

Or I could be just cynical!
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johnmurray  
#9 Posted : 02 August 2016 15:29:30(UTC)
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johnmurray
biker1 wrote:
Really good news, and I hope it turns out to be the breakthrough hoped for.

It will however, have to get the approval of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, who will decide on whether it is 'cost-effective', and unfortunately they don't have a good record on that sort of thing.

Or I could be just cynical!


They've already run through it for melanoma.....

https://www.nice.org.uk/...id=501349925201621110416

See the costing for the med above.
The list of side effects is several arms long..
See also the very serious financial state of practically all hospitals....and note that treatments are drying-up, clinics being run-down and closed..everywhere.
Note in the url, somewhere, that the med is only to be used where the appropriate discount is available...
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