Re: Way Off Topic: West coast eyes

Greg G. said:

>While I harbor a healthy suspicion of drug company claims in general,
>perhaps you might also consider the studies being performed at the
>Oregon Health & Science University, testing an experimental drug,
>which is now on the market as Gleevec. Its maker is Novartis.
>
>Dr. Brian Druker, a Howard Hughes investigator at the university's
>Cancer Institute, who led the Gleevec study, sees this treatment as a
>pioneer effort in a new frontier of science. The treatment is based
>not on blasting cancer cells with harsh chemotherapy or radiation but
>instead on using a sort of molecular razor to cut them out...

Addendum:

Also, since you didn't state the exact cancer involved, this may or
may not provide any useful information. But since the technology
involved represents a new paradigm for cancer treatment, it is a
matter of time until it is adapted for other patients/cancers.
Brief PR release here:
http://www.ohsu.edu/news/2003/031203druker.html

I am not a DMS and the only thing I have a degree in is BS. But...
Traditional chemotherapy involves hammering the body with toxins in an
attempt to effect the mutant cells responsible for the cancer. Until
this point, the cell walls of the cancer have been resistant to
traditional drug targeting, thus resulting in the "poison everything"
approach to cancer treatment - which is the reason many patients
become more weakened from the treatment than the disease. And rarely
is the cancer "cured". The mutant cells are still present in, and
produced by, the body; lying in wait to re-awaken in the future.

This new drug's methodology has apparently been proven able to
penetrate the cell walls of the mutant cancer cells, thus allowing
more precise targeting by other combined drugs. Apparently, however,
each individual's unique genetic predispositions to cancer and
variance in the make up of these genetic flaws can require a tailoring
of the drug to said individual and his/her genetic makeup and
particular cancer. But with currently available technology combined
with automated systems, it's only a matter of time until a doctor will
be able to submit tissue/DNA samples and have a custom engineered drug
delivered to your door - for a price.

FWIW,

Greg G.
.