Major Cancer Breakthrough Squelched By Pharmaceuticals and US Govt
August 11, 2011, Submitted by: Ken Tweet
An astounding discovery in the fight to kill cancer, one that actually appears as though it may be ‘the one’, has been repeatedly ignored by the Pharmaceutical industry and even the the United States Department of Health and Human Services National Institute of Health, according to a report from Dr. Steven Garner, Chairman of the Radiology Department at New York Methodist Hospital.
Dr. Garner said Thursday while interviewed on Fox News, “Do know what’s really scary? – that this almost didn’t happen because they didn’t have funding. Can you imagine – no pharmaceuticals wanted to do it, National Institute of Health didn’t want to do it, Unfortunately a couple who’s child died of Leukemia, gave the money. That’s how they were able to pay for it. What a lucky break…”
The leukemia treatment breakthrough uses the patients’ own blood cells while turning them into assassins that hunt and destroy their cancer cells. It is a form of gene therapy which ultimately destroys the cancer cells. Instead of a shotgun approach treatment of chemotherapy which kills all cells – both good and bad cells, the patients’ modified white blood cells are ‘programmed’ to seek out and destroy just the targeted cancer cells.
In a incredible display of effectiveness, 3 leukemia patients were treated, apparently with only weeks to live, and within 2 weeks they were entirely and apparently 100 percent cured. Dr. Garner said that 6 pounds of cancer was wiped out. The 3rd patient was evidently 75 percent cured while the results and remission tests are ongoing.
Scientists had been working on ways for one’s own immune system to fight the cancer, while tests that modified ‘T-cells’ produced limited results. Dr. Carl June, a gene therapy expert at the University of Pennsylvania led the breakthrough study, published this week by the New England Journal of Medicine, that involved making changes to a patients’ white blood cells which in turn ‘recruited’ the help of the patients’ T-cells while they both together would ‘kill and multiply’ – kill the cancer cells that existed and kill new cancer cells as they emerged, all the while multiplying themselves to be able to kill more.
This is the first time that this has ever been done against cancer.
Researchers at University of Pennsylvania are looking to test other leukemia-related cancers, as well as pancreatic and ovarian cancer – even prostrate and brain cancers.
It is sadly remarkable that Dr. Garner made a point during his interview to point out that the pharmaceutical industry and the United States government did not want anything to do with funding this apparent breakthrough research.
If one ‘follows the money’, it is sad and disgusting to realize that greed has no bounds, even over life itself. The insatiable appetite for the money and profits that result from selling drugs to a sick and unhealthy society is very, very big business. The government itself, as many know, is controlled by these interests through lobbying, big donations, and back room dealing. Therefore it was no major surprise to discover that the Dept. of Health wanted nothing to do with the research.
If someone were to wish retribution upon those that enable this horrible greed, perhaps one day they themselves, or a loved one of theirs, will be on their deathbed without a cure due to the squelching of potential cures for the sake of enabling the ongoing sales of their drug trade. But being a decent human being, I would wish that on no one…
Update, It was Barbara Netter and her late husband who donated their money after losing a child to cancer, to establish the foundation for this research, Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (http://www.ACGTfoundation.org).
In summary, the treatment allows blood cells to track and destroy cancer cells. The study found that one ‘engineered’ T-cell killed at least 1,000 cancer cells. Approximately 15,000 people are diagnosed with chronic leukemia per year.
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Wow! Amazing discovery! But I am sad to say that I suspect that Dr. Steven Garner may meet with a bit of an accident at some time soon.
That’s exactly what I said to my wife when I first saw the story this morning on FOX. I said, “How much you wanna bet that this guy ends up in a ditch pretty soon”.
Have you guys read the study in the NEJM or the commentary in the editorial? If not, go ahead and read it carefully.
First of all: These are results on three patients. So these guys may have been very lucky that this therapy worked for them. If you go for bigger numbers, this might change. Or need a special sub-type of cancer to work.
Than this is not the “magic” therapy, which cures all cancers. It worked so far only for a very small sub-type of cancers, CLL (chronic lymphotic leukemia), which is easy to access by the T-cells. For solid tumors, this approach will not work.
It has serious side-effects, because it kills all antibody producing cells. Not very nice, hmm? The patients have to be completely isolated to protect them for a while.
And last, but not least: There ist nothing like the big conspiration of the industry and the government. You simply don’t know, why these grant applications where turned down. Probably they weren’t good enough. Probably the referee didn’t see the possibilities. Or whatever. The industry would earn quite some money with a therapy like these, since you have to modify the patients very own cells, which is a delicate business in terms of safety and sterility.
Yes, there is no doubt whatsoever that a 2.75 out of 3 success rate doesn’t mean that 275 out of 300 will also be successful. However, good news like this is encouraging to hear. Especially given the alternative of chemo – which kills everything in its way.
I entirely disagree with you regarding the general notion of US government and their ties with big pharmaceuticals. The way it works here in the US (unfortunately) is that the politicians basically work for their money donors (and future prospects for when they leave office). It is all very, very corrupt here in the US. Most people here know it, although not all agree on the level of corruption. Just about the only time when politicians here will pretend like they represent their constituents is during their election cycle. They are very opportunistic in this way. Having said all that, they are not all ‘corrupt’ of course, but in my opinion, most are – these days.
With your pharma conspiration you forget about one thing: Cancer reasearch is not only done in the US, so companies would be pretty stupid, if they act like this. A number of hopeful looking candidates for melanoma treatment (where no really working therapy exists) comes from expensive experiments funded by different companies and major grants.
Pharm. companies are nothing but vampires that prey off the sick and those desperate enough to believe dr. quack to try to fix something that is often not broke. The side effects of these poisons are further countered by more dope. That is exactly what most medication is DOPE. This is why there are so many lawsuits for what they call bad drugs. The pharm. companies are so evil that they would actually make people just sick enough to have these other forms of dope to lessen the side effects of something that was harmful to begin with. A special place in the worst hell should be saved for these slime that are associated with these pharm. comapanies where they belong and would fit in just wonderfully.
This world is pulsating with the worst negative energy you can imagine and people are feeling it big time. These riots and the angry spreading all over the world is something that could be like so many religious groups call the end times and the evil energy is taking over. It could also be all the poisons that people have been ingesting into their bodies and is warping their thought patterns and causing madness. These hideous pharm. companies are more to blame than anyone if that is the case. Like I have said before eventually it is all going to come to a head and then LOOK OUT! For this I give a triple
unhappy faces.
It’s amazing that this is a cure that is so simplistic. It makes perfect sense…Let’s take this one step further…How about someone runs for president, and uses this “Break through” to try to get elected. Would you vote for him or her? I would! You could take down big pharma with a single hand, and expose them for what they really are! Every spec interest group would look up, and pay attention, and every cancer patient (seems there are more every day), would have actual hope.
This break-through will never come to fruition unless there is a lot of noise made…What a way to do it…Never mind if he or she couldn’t be bought off, the proof would be out there, and they would be a martyr.
How sad is that?
There is actually a private company already working on a different way to recruit T-cells to kill cancer cells. They have had similar success to this studay, and they are further along in clinical trials, and their approach is a special type of monoclonal antibody called BiTE (BiSpecific T-Cell Engaging). BiTE’s do not have to be custom made for each patient and once the antibody is out of your system, the T cells stop attacking target cells (which always include healthy cells with the same antibody receptor as the cancer cells – CD19 found on B-Cells in this case and in the case of the BiTE antibody known as Blinatumomab). The company is also working on BiTE’s for solid tumors, but no major results reported yet. Check out “Micromet”.
Hype and unkept promises are nothing new in cancer research. Billions and billions and billions spent and little result. I know there are some encouraging but very minor results and there are some results that look good but are essentially statistics and not real. The simple fact remains that most cancers are still as deadly and the best science can do is offer you the choice of 6 months and death with dignity and your body parts intact or six months of expensive and degrading painful treatment and death without your hair and your mental capacity intact. For those of you who believe this “treatment” is being kept off the market I suggest you watch and learn. Watch as years go by and the researchers ask for more money promising the breakthrough is right around the corner. Learn how the game is played. I’m not really saying that the researchers are dishonest but most of the research money goes to pay six figure incomes year after year after year but almost never any real results. I am a cancer survivor and cannot thank my surgeon, doctors and other health care providers enough. But I also know as sure as I’m alive the big three are heart attack, cancer and stroke and that is how I’m gonna go and YOU to unless you are unlikely enough to get killed in an accident. The last 60 years has seen intensive and super expensive research by the best minds to find cures for cancer and so far little or nothing. I expect the same after 60 more years.
@Gonewiththewind: There is a “simple” reason: No cancer is like the other. We are actually at the very beginning of understanding the underlying molecular mechanism for cancer. And there is by far more diversity between cancers, than ever thought. Even between cancers of the same “group” like melanoma.
What you say is true but this truth has been known for years. I simply don’t see a breakthrough on the horizon. Make no mistake this hopeful and hyped talk of a breakthrough right around the corner has been going on for decades. I don’t honestly know if the hype is a result of well intended scientists excited by knew knowledge and studies or is more part of the plan to keep funding coming in. Either way I caution people to not expect that a cure is right around the corner.
I disagree, it won’t work for all only for some.
I am not astonished nor even surprised that the government/health care industry wanted nothing to do with this discovery. It is simply their regard for money and keeping people sick that has things like this from being discovered. Thank you so much to the family that donated their funds for this cause. I believe that if some of the money that is donated to find cures for diseases were actually allowed to work where it is supposed to we would not have the cancers, diabetes, ms or so many other diseases that we are having to live with today. Problem is that so long as we celebratorize our politicians, so long as they are allowed to become wealthy for “serving” we will never see this change…