RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events A cure for cancer?

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the G-man said:
You can't cure cancer because cancer occurs at the genetic level.

Short of genetic manipluation, the best you can ever do will be to treat it.

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the G-man said:
You can't cure cancer

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Using the cell-invading prowess of viruses and the hybrid concepts driving up automobile fuel efficiency these days, local scientists have found a way to light up cancerous tumors in mice like fireflies in the night.

What sounds like a genetics parlor trick may be an important step toward identifying cancer cells and zapping them before they spread and smother healthy organs.

By creating a hybrid out of two dissimilar viruses, researchers hope to be able to illuminate tumor cells, making it easier for doctors to target cancers and monitor treatments.

It also could provide a kick-start to the unfulfilled promise of gene therapy.

The hybrid virus created by Pasqualini and her colleagues at M.D. Anderson infected nearly 100 percent of the targeted cancerous cells, and the genes they delivered functioned for weeks or even months, a stunning success. The delivered genes produced fluorescent proteins that the researchers could easily see with imaging equipment.

With the new technique, Pasqualini said, it could be possible for cancer doctors and their patients to know almost immediately whether chemotherapy and other treatments are having any effect on tumors.

It's worth noting, however, that there have been past successes with small animals that haven't translated into larger mammals or humans.

Still, the research has garnered the attention of other cancer scientists. Not only does it appear to have solved the problems of targeting and delivery, but the hybrid virus seems to evade the body's immune system long enough to deliver its genetic payload.

researchers are testing the hybrid virus in dogs with cancerous tumors. Performing the study in large animals is the final step before the hybrid virus can be tested in humans, possibly within a few years.

Millions of women's lives could be saved by a new miracle vaccine that wipes out the viruses that cause 70 percent of cervical-cancer cases.

The vaccine, called Gardasil, is safe and effective and should receive government approval, an FDA advisory panel voted unanimously yesterday.

Merck, the drug's maker, said the vaccine could slash deaths from cervical cancer - the second most common malignancy in women - by two-thirds.

The Food and Drug Administration's panel of outside experts voted 13-0 to recommend approval.

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Captain Sweden said:
As a side-note, I'd like to mention that discoveries like these wouldn't be possible without the theory of evolution and Gregor Mendel's laws.

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wannabuyamonkey said:

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Captain Sweden said:
As a side-note, I'd like to mention that discoveries like these wouldn't be possible without the theory of evolution and Gregor Mendel's laws.

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Are you refering to the Dawinian Theory of Evolution? I'll assume you're not because that would be foolish. Sure research like this is based on Mendel's laws of succession as well as micro evolution, but to in anway attempt to link this success in anyway to the shoddy and incoclusive theory of macro evolution is rediculous. There has yet to be a single successfull prediction made based on the Darwinian model of macro evolution.

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pet owners are enrolling their dogs in medical trials meant to benefit humans and animals alike. And some animal advocates are applauding the development.

Most of the trials, often sponsored by drug companies or medical device makers, involve pets with cancer — a leading natural cause of death in older dogs — in which the animals receive groundbreaking drugs or other treatments that are eventually meant for people.

The drug giant Pfizer has already introduced a human cancer drug that was given an early test in pet dogs, and a California company, IDM Pharma, recently filed for federal approval of another cancer drug that received similar testing.

Treating dogs gives researchers an idea of whether and how the treatment will work in people, while at the same time possibly helping the pets.

“It can help in reshaping the image of animals in science, from being considered tools to being considered patients,” said Martin Stephens, the vice president for animal research issues at the Humane Society of the United States. “And we would love to see that change.”

The National Cancer Institute has set up a consortium of more than a dozen veterinary teaching hospitals to conduct the tests. The consortium has just completed its first study, with another to begin in a few weeks and several more planned for next year.

Government and academic scientists are also now setting up a nonprofit group to study DNA and tumor samples from pet dogs, in an effort to pinpoint genes associated with cancer in both dogs and people.

The government push is adding momentum to an approach in progress for several years among universities and medical centers that have been testing companies’ drugs and devices. Meanwhile, dogs whose owners enroll them in these trials often benefit from the best cancer treatments available.

pet owners are enrolling their dogs in medical trials meant to benefit humans and animals alike. And some animal advocates are applauding the development.

Most of the trials, often sponsored by drug companies or medical device makers, involve pets with cancer — a leading natural cause of death in older dogs — in which the animals receive groundbreaking drugs or other treatments that are eventually meant for people.

The drug giant Pfizer has already introduced a human cancer drug that was given an early test in pet dogs, and a California company, IDM Pharma, recently filed for federal approval of another cancer drug that received similar testing.

Treating dogs gives researchers an idea of whether and how the treatment will work in people, while at the same time possibly helping the pets.

“It can help in reshaping the image of animals in science, from being considered tools to being considered patients,” said Martin Stephens, the vice president for animal research issues at the Humane Society of the United States. “And we would love to see that change.”

The National Cancer Institute has set up a consortium of more than a dozen veterinary teaching hospitals to conduct the tests. The consortium has just completed its first study, with another to begin in a few weeks and several more planned for next year.

Government and academic scientists are also now setting up a nonprofit group to study DNA and tumor samples from pet dogs, in an effort to pinpoint genes associated with cancer in both dogs and people.

The government push is adding momentum to an approach in progress for several years among universities and medical centers that have been testing companies’ drugs and devices. Meanwhile, dogs whose owners enroll them in these trials often benefit from the best cancer treatments available.

People who flavor their diets with plenty of onions and garlic might have less chance of developing several types of cancer, a study suggests.

In an analysis of eight studies from Italy and Switzerland, researchers found that older adults with the highest onion and garlic intakes had the lowest risks of a number of cancers - including those of the colon, ovaries and throat.

The findings, which appear in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, are in line with some past research. But those studies were mainly conducted in China, where dietary habits are different and garlic intake is higher.

It had been unclear as to whether the results would be different in Western countries.

These latest findings suggest that the anti-cancer benefit of these vegetables extend to everyone, said Carlotta Galeone, lead author of the study and a researcher at the Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacologic Research in Milan, Italy.

It's still not certain that onions and garlic have a direct effect on cancer risk. It's possible, for instance, that onion and garlic lovers also have an overall diet that protects against cancer.

Women who keep their homes clean and tidy are less likely to develop breast cancer than those who let the dust and dishes pile up, according to a report. Researchers found regular moderate exercise such as housework provides greater protection from the disease than more strenuous but less frequent sporting activity.

Being active in the home cut the likelihood of pre-menopausal women developing breast cancer by 29 per cent compared with being inactive, and reduced the risk for post-meno-pausal women by 19 per cent. More than 12,400 women die from the disease in the UK every year.

Shark cartilage, a widely used alternative therapy for cancer, did not help patients with lung cancer live longer, according to the results of one of the first rigorous studies of the approach.

The studies were presented on Saturday here at the annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, where the nation’s cancer doctors usually discuss the latest in chemotherapy and new biotechnology drugs.

It is relatively unusual for this meeting to highlight alternative therapies, but doctors here said that might be changing. They acknowledge that many of their patients are taking these supplements — widely available in health food stores — and asking them about them. So, they said, well-designed clinical trials are needed to determine whether these approaches are helpful or harmful.


The shark cartilage clinical trial was mandated by Congress and was sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. It tested a shark cartilage extract being developed as a drug by Aeterna Zentaris, a Canadian company.

Dr. Charles Lu of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, the trial’s lead investigator, said there was reason to believe the cartilage might work. Cartilage has been found to contain factors that can impede the formation of blood vessels. And cutting off the blood supply to tumors has already been proven effective with other drugs.

But in the trial, those who received the shark cartilage extract lived a median of 14.4 months, meaning that half the patients had died by that point. Those who got a placebo had a median survival of 15.6 months.

The trial involved 384 patients in the United States and Canada with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The shark cartilage extract was given as a liquid that patients drank twice a day.

For the first time, doctors say they have found a pill that improves survival for people with liver cancer, a notoriously hard to treat disease diagnosed in more than half a million people globally each year.

The results in a multinational study of 602 patients with advanced liver cancer are impressive and likely will change the way patients are treated, cancer specialists including the study authors say.

Patients got either two tablets daily of a drug called sorafenib or dummy pills in the study, which started in March 2005. Some patients are still alive, although on average, sorafenib patients survived 10.7 months versus almost 8 months for those on dummy pills.

That type of survival advantage "has never happened" with liver cancer "and is a major breakthrough in the management of the disease," said Dr. Josep Llovet, the lead author.

"That may not sound like a lot of time," but for liver cancer, "this is actually a quite impressive gain," said Dr. Nancy Davidson of Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health. "It is the first effective systemic treatment for liver cancer, which is such a huge problem internationally."