"Err-abah...How did that girl get in my cah?"
Posted on 02/11/2013 4:35:23 PM PST by neverdem
The virus used in the vaccine that helped eradicate smallpox is now working its magic on liver cancer. A genetically engineered version of the vaccinia virus has trebled the average survival time of people with a severe form of liver cancer, with only mild, flu-like side effects.
Thirty people with hepatocellular carcinoma received three doses of the modified virus – code-named JX-594 – directly into their liver tumour over one month. Half the volunteers received a low dose of the virus, the other half a high dose. Members of the low and high-dose groups subsequently survived for, on average, 6.7 and 14.1 months respectively. By contrast, trials several years ago showed that sorafenib, the best existing medication for this cancer, prolonged life by only three months.
Two of the patients on the highest viral dose were still alive more than two years after the treatment. "It's a very substantial survival benefit," says Laurent Fischer, president of Jennerex, the company in San Francisco developing the treatment under the trade name Pexa-Vec.
Besides shrinking the primary tumour, the virus was able to spread to and shrink any secondary tumours outside the liver. "Some tumours disappeared completely, and most showed partial destruction on MRI scans," says David Kirn, head of the study at Jennerex. Moreover, the destruction was equally dramatic in the primary and secondary tumours.
"This clinical trial is an exciting step forward to help find a new way of treating cancers," says Alan Melcher of the University of Leeds, UK, who was not involved in the study. "It helps demonstrate the cancer-fighting potential of viruses, which have relatively few side effects compared with traditional chemo or radiotherapy," he says. "If it proves effective in larger trials, it could be available to patients within..."
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
Interesting.
That’s not good. We can’t have these people hanging around and sucking up our resources (sarc).
"Err-abah...How did that girl get in my cah?"
Cool, until the Zombie Hoarde appears.
Oh, he was the epitome of a virus. One that took far too long to run its course
That’s good news. We just lost a good friend to liver cancer. Hopefully this finding will be a breakthrough in fighting that terrible disease.
bkmk
Another method tried successfully was to insert two electrodes, one on each side of the cancer. Then apply electricity. They burned the cancer, successfully prolonging life, but not curing the cancer.
Fevers have been well known to cure cancer for over a century. The hotter, the better.
Just destroying tumors doesn’y cure cancer; it just delays it for a short time. To cure cancer you must remove the cause.
So GM medicine good, GM food bad?
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