http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/t ... zPTFque7VM (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/testing_starts_creates_homegrown_4jSHWpWFBEkczPTFque7VM)
They call em wonder drugs because they wonder if they'll work. 20 years later they find out one leg is shorter than the other.. Better recall the pills.. :-k
Quote from: "AllPurposeAtheist"They call em wonder drugs because they wonder if they'll work. 20 years later they find out one leg is shorter than the other.. Better recall the pills.. :-k
For someone who has only 6 months to live, 20 years with one leg a little short is a pretty good alternative.
Quote from: "AllPurposeAtheist"They call em wonder drugs because they wonder if they'll work. 20 years later they find out one leg is shorter than the other.. Better recall the pills.. :-k
And do you know this for a fact? :-k
Quote from: "AllPurposeAtheist"They call em wonder drugs because they wonder if they'll work. 20 years later they find out one leg is shorter than the other.. Better recall the pills.. :-k
When developing therapeutics, we do the best we can. It's not perfect and things can happen. That doesn't make it not worthwhile, though.
There are a lot of "wonder" drugs. I think one of these days, one of them will work. Until then, it is an educated shot in the dark. This approach has very much piqued my interest. I liked the idea of bispecific antibody, but that has fallen short most of the time. Using antibody to block surface proteins and allowing T cells to do what they are supposed to do has bigger implications, I think. I am left to wonder how healthy cells that express CD47 will be spared. Guessing they won't be. Will this drug have really profound side effects? I guess we'll see.
Quote from: "AllPurposeAtheist"They call em wonder drugs because they wonder if they'll work. 20 years later they find out one leg is shorter than the other.. Better recall the pills.. :-k
Hm, a shorter leg in 20 years or death. Tough choice.
Oh wait, it isn't.
Hopefully something beneficial might come out of this. I think APA is suggesting a hope that there isn't a 'thalidomide moment' in the future. I wouldn't get too hung up on the short leg issue... :lol:
I've heard of this several months ago. There's every reason to believe that it is a major discovery. The testing should give us the implications/reliabilities of this new drug.
Quote from: "Mermaid"There are a lot of "wonder" drugs. I think one of these days, one of them will work. Until then, it is an educated shot in the dark. This approach has very much piqued my interest. I liked the idea of bispecific antibody, but that has fallen short most of the time. Using antibody to block surface proteins and allowing T cells to do what they are supposed to do has bigger implications, I think. I am left to wonder how healthy cells that express CD47 will be spared. Guessing they won't be. Will this drug have really profound side effects? I guess we'll see.
Me too. I wonder how any side effects will compare with the effects of chemotherapy.
Quote from: "Youssuf Ramadan"Hopefully something beneficial might come out of this. I think APA is suggesting a hope that there isn't a 'thalidomide moment' in the future. I wouldn't get too hung up on the short leg issue... :lol:
Thalidomide a very good example of why the FDA has the function and the authority it does have today.
http://blogs.fda.gov/fdavoice/index.php ... n-matters/ (http://blogs.fda.gov/fdavoice/index.php/2012/02/50-years-after-thalidomide-why-regulation-matters/)
Quote from: "Mermaid"I am left to wonder how healthy cells that express CD47 will be spared. Guessing they won't be. Will this drug have really profound side effects? I guess we'll see.
The difference between my knowledge of this area and yours is like the difference between my keyboard's knowledge of poetry and mine, so please forgive what might be the most stupid question you've ever heard.
Do non-malignant cells express CD47? At all? (I wouldn't recognize the difference between CD47 and a Pontiac.)
Quote from: "Colanth"Quote from: "Mermaid"I am left to wonder how healthy cells that express CD47 will be spared. Guessing they won't be. Will this drug have really profound side effects? I guess we'll see.
The difference between my knowledge of this area and yours is like the difference between my keyboard's knowledge of poetry and mine, so please forgive what might be the most stupid question you've ever heard.
Do non-malignant cells express CD47? At all? (I wouldn't recognize the difference between CD47 and a Pontiac.)
My knowledge of the incredibly complicated world of immunology amounts to one grad level class, a 2 year stint with an immunology project at work, and some passing interest, so I am certainly no expert in the field.
That is the opposite of a stupid question. It is a very good and relevant one. It is basically the single most important question to ask about a therapy like this.
Yes, healthy body cells do express CD47. Lots of cells involved in immunity have these proteins on their surface, and put in a very overly simple way, these act like keys that allow them to perform some function like sticking to surfaces, migrating across membranes, growing, etc.
Tumor cells can express an abnormal amount of this kind of protein, I think that is why they targeted it in the first place. Hey, these tumor cells seem to have so much of this protein, what happens if we block it?
Thank you. Too bad malignant cells don't express some unique feature. Then H5N1 flu would be far more serious than cancer.
I just hope it works. I've lost several family members and friends to cancer. the day its official cured, will be one of the happiest in my life.
Quote from: "Colanth"Thank you. Too bad malignant cells don't express some unique feature. Then H5N1 flu would be far more serious than cancer.
That is exactly what research projects concentrating on various cancers are looking for and have been for some time. It looks like this is what they have done, found something unique. Cancer cells over-express this protein, so it's a good target to pursue. It's not the first such target though.
And since you brought it up, I fear the influenza virus more than any other.
I think I would fear smallpox even more, if I weren't congenitally immune to it. Even if it only exists in labs. (We all know that no one in a lab ever makes a mistake.)
nobody I know personally has ever died of the flu or smallpox. I know personally like 20 people who died of cancer.
so yeah its a disease I fear above any other.
I'll be dancing in the streets the day they announce the war on cancer won.