September 3, 2006
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SUNDAY GOOD NEWSWith
two members of my immediate family having been stricken with cancer
this past year (multiple myeloma and ovarian CA respectively), I’ve
become a bit more alert to news of progress against this ruthless
illness. Thursday, Dr. Steven Rosenberg at the National Cancer
Institute published results in the September issue of Science of the
first major success in fighting cancer with gene therapy. The
particular cancer involved was melanoma but the hope is to extend the
research to treat other cancers as well. I’m so not able to explain
exactly how it works but the jist of it seems to be to take T cells
(produced by the immune system to kill bacteria and foreign tissues)
from the patient, manipulate them genetically so they can recognize and
fight cancer cells better, and then return them to the patient. It’s a
tiny start with a tiny group of patients, but it’s a first and maybe a
huge ray of hope for the future.
Deep Thought:
“I don’t think I’m alone when I say I’d like to see more and more
planets fall under the ruthless domination of our solar system.”
Today I am grateful for: Paragraphs, or who knows how long we might go on.
Guess the Movie: “I
hope they don’t hang you, precious, by that sweet neck. Yes, angel, I’m
gonna send you over. The chances are you’ll get off with life. That
means if you’re a good girl, you’ll be out in 20 years. I’ll be waiting
for you. If they hang you, I’ll always remember you.” Answer: The Maltese Falcon, 1941.
Winner: hypatia.
Sierra Club et al. Take Global Warming to the Supreme Court (Rest of article here.)
Comments (24)
That’s pretty amazing stuff with the gene therapy, and I hope they can get some good results. It’s definitely worth a try. I am sorry to hear about your family members. ~ lea
my grandfatther and great grandfather both died of myeloma!! So I have to be very carful and get checked often!! It sucks but its reality!!
The Maltese Falcon.
I’m not even sure what kind of cancer my dad’s got…squamous cell carcinoma, I think. I hope that this line of research produces results.
The Maltese Falcon for sure!
Oh, no, I hadn’t heard about the ovarian cancer…
I read about this a couple years ago then heard nothing more until now. This is encouraging albeit long overdue good news.
I’ve heard about that news. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it could help all people with cancer!?!
It is always good to have hope. Cancer is such a nasty business.
I saw this Dr. Rosenburg on CNN yesterday. His work sounds promising. Did you see the story??? The man they interviewed was one of the few who the treatment worked for. He got to walk his daughter down the aisle. It was a very touching story.
Hugs, Tricia
Crossing my fingers!
*sparkle
I am glad they are making some progress!
Boo, Red Stripe. Hooray, Gene Therapy! (Actually Red Stripe’s an OK beer, almost as good as the commercials — the ones that go “Boo, whatever. Hooray, Beer!”)
Also, Hooray, commondreams article. Thanks for the link.
How wonderful!! In the past year and a half my family has lost 5 people to some sort of cancer. Horrible disease.
Happy Labor Day!
I am sorry about hearing you have two members of your family with cancer. Sorry. I have a brother who had throat cancer. My heart goes out for you. I understand how much worry you can feel. It is hard. You have such a great site. Nicely laid out. Have a Happy Labor Day.
The new therapy sounds promising but of course, early detection is always important.
hope and the falcon. thank you for both.
there are no “tiny” advances in cancer research…it’s all huge and wonderful. Hope to you and yours…
My brother worked on that 5 years ago at NIH. Cancer is a devious beast. The attempt is to starve it by deceiving it. I worked at a Cancer research hospital 9 years ago as a tech and I hope we defeat the beast one day.
Next week I will be having two moles removed. The biopsies I had in July came back ‘suspicious’. So it is definitely worth the small amount of time to get a check up and catch it before it catches me. BTW, this is my first visit to your site and I like your work very much. At age 54 I am up to my ears in bubblegum sites. I wish more post40 people would blog.
im glad the mole above my left hip is benign. thanks for the chart
wow, thoughtfilled and full blog. i enjoyed what you are grateful for. especially.
That is an insidious disease. All I can say is I HATE IT. Had a signifcant scare some years back.
ah, good point! I’ve had a few moles removed, where one was ‘PRE-cancerous.’ Thanks for reminding me that it’s time to check more closely at my skin.
thank you for this. I am dealing with some denial/avoidance regarding a particular spot I have found and I need to just deal with it. Thanks again.