Jane, I totally agree with you that treatment for cancer is not good enough and that what we want is not three extra months but a cure. But the reality now is that, being cancer very different in each person, a general cure for cancer is very difficult (impossible?) to find. Maybe the new sort of protein fingerprint of many cancers of the same type, that can divide cancer of the same type in many subgroups according to different patterns, will give us an answer. Clearly then they will have to develop specific therapies for each subtype, according to which proteins drive replication in that particular cancer…well very complicated and very expensive. but maybe one day we’ll get there!
In the meantime we need lots of trials and lots of people participating to the trials, because mice experiments are not good enough! a famous oncologist once said “if you have cancer and you are a mouse, you haven’t got a problem!”, and this is true, experimental mice are cured with nearly everything, but the biology of spontaneous cancers is really different.
and I would not dismiss a little result, also herceptin did not work the first time they tried it, only until they realized that it was working just for a little percentage of patients (the ones that ++ or +++), and for this group of patients the efficacy was amazing.
I am not saying PARP inhibitors are the answer to our prayers, but sometimes what seems a tiny result could mean something more.
xx
sab
Thanks Sab
I agree that PARP inhibitors may be opening a door to effective new drugs…but it is all going to take a long time…hope for the future more than for now I reckon.
And so agree with you about mice…far too much research wasted on mouse models.
Jane
Let me come back as a mouse please. Then I won’t have to worry about all this.
On the other hand - do elephants get cancer?
Deirdre
Sorry, don’t mean to lower the tone, just feeling particularly flippant today.
Only read your update to-day Jane. As I have been away.
Like you I have had many chemos, am on 12th cycle of vinorelbine, but been aware it was starting to fail since March. had CT on Wednesday not had result yet. Hopefully will get it by phone tomorrow. and if it shows progression will change to Gemcitabine/carboplatin, which is my last option which is quite scary, but if no real progression can stay on current chemo for a bit longer. Am not feeling so breathless to-day so maybe things not as bad as I fear.
Will keep you posted.
Marmite x
Hi Marmite
Thanks. Fingers crossed for your scan. We obviously did our chemos in different order…I did gem/carbo before taxol and second lot of vinorelbine. Hope though that vinorelbine will last longer for you.
Jane x
Hi Jane,
Just catching up on everyone’s threads. Glad about the ‘new boy’, and I’d just like to echo what Dahlia said: Wishing you a long and worthwhile association with this young man and hope that he learns a lot from you.!!
I’m sorry to hear you’ve been in pain and exhausted - hope things have improved in that area since you posted
love Jx
Hi Jane
I haven’t logged in for ages (I decided that this summer I would concentrate on doing non-cancer things like gardening and cycling) but I thought I’d see how everyone was doing. I’m sorry to hear that the summer hasn’t been as good as you planned so far.
Thinking of you and I hope things pick up for you
Barbara